


Bull of Heaven

by shulkie



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Blood and Gore, Guns, Jack the Ripper AU, Multi, Murder Mystery, Serial Killers, Victorian era, Violence, ererivamika - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-09-30
Updated: 2015-02-13
Packaged: 2018-02-19 10:01:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 9
Words: 51,542
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2384210
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shulkie/pseuds/shulkie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>“I think you and I both know there’s only one animal capable of this.”</i>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Whitechapel is being terrorized by a series of gruesome murders, the most recent of which is especially heinous in its brutality. Captain Erwin Smith makes a gamble, pulling the famous game hunter Eren Jaeger out from military prison and placing him under the care of war hero Lieutenant Levi Pascal, a French Jew who still has ties to the criminal community. Levi and Eren find themselves evenly matched as they hunt for their killer, but along the way, the killer starts hunting them. Who is the Whitechapel Killer? Kaney the Ripper, a man who may be Levi’s father? Are the killings a cover up by a vicious German gang seeking some kind of treasure? Is it Jaeger’s wife, who knows more about the case than she lets on?</p><p>Semipermanent Hiatus</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Mary Ann Nichols, Annie Chapman, Elizabeth Stride, Catherine Eddowes, and Mary Kelly. These are the "canonical five" of the Jack the Ripper killings. There has been a lot of speculation over the years about Jack the Ripper (the most recent being DNA evidence proving Aaron Kosminski as the killer, which some claim is inconclusive). Jack the Ripper lore is steeped in anti-semitism and full of royal conspiracies. The shadowed figure of Jack the Ripper is often talked about, revered even, while his victims are waved off as prostitutes. I want you to remember those five names above. I want it to burn into your brain. You can have your theories on who killed them: a doctor, a butcher, a raving lunatic, etc, but let's be real here, the real perpetrator is misogyny, plain and simple.
> 
> My tumblr is perksofbeingawaifu.tumblr.com
> 
> Tracking tag is #fic: boh
> 
> I spent a great deal of time working on this fic, but was hesitant to release it. I put a lot of time and love into this fic. Many MANY hours spent researching details. I won't be updating as fast because each chapter takes me at least a week to write. This is a far cry from my other fic [Büsker Dü's and Don'ts](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1946151/chapters/4206144) but I hope you'll enjoy it.
> 
> One thing about this fic is that I want you, the reader, to try and figure out who Jack the Ripper is! It could literally be anyone! 
> 
> TW: racial slurs  
> TW: casual imperialist rhetoric (yeahhh Victorian Era Britain... :/)  
> TW: blood and gore

_And then a She-Wolf showed herself;_

_she seemed_ _to carry every craving in her leaness;_

_she had already brought despair to many._

_-The Inferno,_ Dante Alighieri. Canto 1.

 

Eren had long wondered if there was something wrong with him. When that hate (that hot and sticky skin-pricking heat over his face and the thunderous pounding in his ears like monsoon season) boiled over him everything went white. Too many times he’d been pulled back from that white hate to find someone under him, hands up in limp surrender and bits of teeth embedded in his fists. This time it had been no different except the hands that pulled him up had been Military Police who threw him in into this cell with no food and only a small bucket to shit in that quickly overfilled.

His superiors washed their hands of him.

“What do you do with a dog that bites you?” Pixis asked, the old man’s face gave away little.

“You shoot it,” Shadis answered, not bothering to face Eren when he said it.

That was when Eren knew he’d fucked up. He’d fucked up so terribly bad. Shadis, the bastard, couldn’t even be bothered to look at him. He tongued at his cut lip and flexed his torn up knuckles. The blood had dried and pulled at the skin tight. It hadn’t hurt when he’d laid into Kirstein, but fuck if it didn’t throb something awful now.

“Good thing I’m not a dog now isn’t it?” Eren Jaeger finally found his voice and it was rougher than he intended.

At the beginning of the week, he had a brotherhood and made a good wage, enough to take care of his wife—oh fuck—Michelle. How could he go back to her without a job? He was supposed to take care of her damnit. He could still fix this. He was able bodied. He’d take care of her even no matter what. He’d even move them both and work in the mines. There was no shame in hard labor. Unless he was sent to prison to do hard labor. How would she survive then? She was more resilient than he gave her credit for, but she shouldn’t have to worry about such things.

“No, you’re an idiot who attacked one of our own,” Shadis sneered.

“It was a misunderstanding,” Eren tried to shrug it off. “Albeit a misunderstanding with fists—“

“Do you think this is funny, Jaeger?”

“It was a brawl, nothing serious. He’s not dead!”

_Not dead and not addled like that boy in school who chews with mush mouth—gently like every bite aches. You’re a monster._

“You have a serious problem, Jaeger. You have a temper. A man with a demon like that—“ Pixis waved his arm. “—is weak. He can’t be trusted.”

Weak. Weak?

Eren was baring his teeth before he even realized he was doing so, he opened his mouth to speak but Shadis turned his back again. He and Pixis left. There was no reason to stay.

He couldn’t tell how many hours passed after they left. He paced the cell angrily. There was no window, he couldn’t even tell what time it was. Had someone even told Michelle he was in here? His fist throbbed again and he rubbed the knuckles tenderly.

When the door finally opened, Eren snapped, “Finally!”

“What’s the matter, need to take a shit?” asked a small, swarthy man in a grey wool coat. He had a low, vulgar voice, yet he spoke barely above a whisper.

Eren eyed him warily, but didn’t answer.

The man walked carefully around the cell, keeping his hands in his pockets and his elbows tucked at his sides lest he accidentally brush up against the slightly sweating walls. He grabbed a chair with a gloved hand and pulled it halfway to the wall.

“How far can you spit?” he asked, turning to look at Eren.

“What?”

He looked back at Eren and then pulled the chair even further toward the wall, just in case Eren did have amazing range. Pulling out a handkerchief, he dusted the chair off, but didn’t sit.

“Jean send you then?” Eren asked, his tongue flicking out again to his cut lip. He figured that limp-dick would send some of his buddies around to even out the score sooner or later.

“Who is Jean?” the man didn’t bother to look up, still inspecting his work on the chair.

“A horse-faced fuck with a big mouth.”

“Ah. No.”

 “Then who are you? Are you my lawyer?”

The man in the grey coat didn’t answer yet stood waiting patiently. No, Eren knew better. He wasn’t guaranteed a lawyer for court martial.

“Then what? Come to see the mad dog in its cage?” he meant it as a joke, but the reality of his situation was starting to weigh heavily on him and he put a shaky hand over his eyes.

“A dog you can train, a wolf, not so much,” a voice echoed off the tiles as the door opened again. Its owner was a tall broad shouldered man with thick blond hair and glassy eyes that seemed to reflect everything around him. His right coat arm hung limp at his side and Eren eyed it uneasily.  “That’s what they call you, do they not? The Lone Wolf? The Rogue Wolf?”

The shorter man offered the chair to him and then stood at his side, his arms crossed in front; his dark hair obscuring his eyes. Eren hated men like that. Obedient dogs waiting for their master’s signal. Looking back now, that should have been a clear sign he wasn’t cut out for the military lifestyle.

“Been asking around about me?” Eren’s tongue again went to his lip.

The seated man carefully opened a file with his one hand.

“How long have you been in Her Majesty’s Armed Forces?”

“A year,” Eren raised his chin.

“And during that time, you’ve had three separate altercations?”

When he put it that way. “Yes.”

“Quite a bit different than our day, eh Levi?” the one armed man asked his standing comrade, who in turn gave a mirthless smirk. At Eren’s angry face, he clarified, “In our day they’d whip the disobedient, even if they were home troops. They don’t do that anymore of course. Don’t brand deserters either.”

“I was never disobedient. I never raised a hand to my commanding officer, just those who deserve it,” Eren spat.

“What did he do to deserve it?” the dark man asked, tilting his chin back a bit so Eren could see his chilly grey eyes.

“Who?” Eren, not quite sure which incident the man was referencing.

“The horse-faced fuck,” the man called Levi bit into those words, his tongue clinging to his teeth as he said them. He was a man who relished dirty words as much as he abhorred filth.

Eren shifted uncomfortably, rolling his shoulders back, before deciding, “He called my wife a half breed whore and asked where he could buy one.”

The two men exchanged a look. The fair man handed his subordinate an enveloped late, which he opened. Stepping forward, he reached his hand out to proffer the item to Eren, manipulating Eren into stepping forward. Eren begrudgingly stretched out to take the fragile photo plate between the bars.

“Where did you get this?” Eren asked when he finally realized what it was.

“Is that you?” the seated man asked.

“Yes. I mean, I believe so. I never got to see this photo. I remember posing for it, but...”

Armin’s grandfather, the cartographer, had dragged his camera and all of his plates and chemicals around, documenting all that he could. Eren remembered Armin setting up the camera and then joining them in posing.

“Could you tell us about what is happening in that photo?”

“You mean Barbarossa?” Eren grinned.

The two men exchanged a look, not understanding his meaning.

“That’s what we called him. You know because of the red beard?” he stroked an invisible beard.

They offered no response of recognition.

“In Jharkhand, India, 1882 I believe? Barbarossa killed nearly 20 people—9 of which were children. He gored to death half of them and his trunk and tusks were always that rust color, hence the ‘red beard.’ We were hired by locals to track and kill “Red Tusk” as the locals called him. We knew he was big but never did we expect he’d be quite _that_ big. Asian bull elephant weighing over 6 tones and over 40 hands tall. I’m sure there are bigger ones out there, but—“ Eren shook his head, half in fondness, half in somber reverence “—none of them have the reputation that he did.”

“And that’s you in that photo?” the seated man repeated.

“Yes.”

“Alongside the famed game hunter Hannes, before his death some years ago?”

“Yes.”

The seated man handed his subordinate another plate and he in turn exchanged it for the one in Eren’s hands. The darker man paused as he did so and his grey eyes flicked up to Eren, turning the photo around for him to see.

“That her?” he asked.

Eren’s eyes narrowed. “Who?”

“The ‘half breed,’” Levi asked, gauging Eren’s reaction.

“Yes, that is. Why? You got something to say about it?” he pressed his chest against the bars and the plate in his hand creaked in protest.

“She’s pretty,” Levi shrugged, having proven his point that he could rile Eren up just as easily as Jean.

Eren’s tongue flicked back to the cut and his knuckles ached because he was clutching the plate so hard and only when it cut into his fingers did he remember. He flipped it over to look at it.

“Rogue Wolf,” the seated man smiled.

“This was right before I enlisted. The way they talked about it in the press, you’d have thought I killed the Beast of Gévaudan,” Eren’s brow now furrowed deep in thought. Why did they want to know about all of that?

Levi gave an enigmatic nod which might have been a smile for all Eren knew.

“Tell me, Private Jaeger, how do you hunt a beast like Barbarossa and the Rogue Wolf?” the seated man asked.

“You track it. Follow the path it’s led. Find out where it hunts. Where it shits,” he emphasized the word since Levi seemed to like it so much and was rewarded with the slightest raise of an eyebrow. “Where it kills. How it kills.”

The seated man removed another photograph, this one more recent and on film paper. Once again he had Levi make the exchange. Levi took the plate from Eren and as he handed the photo he held on to it a second longer than he should so Eren was forced to meet his eyes. He wasn’t sure what he saw in those eyes but it made him uneasy.

“And,” the seated man straightened in his chair, clutching on to his limp sleeve and massaging the stump there. “What kind of animal would you say did this?”

Eren pulled his eyes away from Levi and glanced at the photo. His stomach flipped over but he’d seen enough carnage in his day to prevent it showing on his face.

“I think you and I both know there’s only one animal capable of this,” Eren said, cleared his throat and handed it back to Levi.

Levi grabbed him pulling him forward by his wrist and twisted it sharply, eliciting a sharp hiss of pain from Eren. He examined the scrapes on his knuckles with a keen eye.

“You’ll need to see that looked to,” he commented dryly, brushing a gloved thumb over the simple gold wedding band on Eren’s finger. Eren winced. “Southpaw, _oui_? The ring finger is usually the first to fracture. You don’t wrap.”

The last part was a statement over a question.

“I didn’t really have time,” Eren gritted his teeth.

“No, you had time, you just don’t have control. Impulsive brats like you rarely do.”

Eren jerked his hand out of Levi’s grasp and glared at him his working at his jaw angrily.

“Can you catch him?” the seated man asked.

“Your killer? I’m not a detective. Hunting big game is one thing. Hunting man? That’s another thing entirely.”

“Are you a good shot?” Levi asked, quirking his head.

“I’m decent.”

“You brought down Barbarossa the mad elephant and a child killing wolf but you’re only ‘decent’ with a rifle?”

“Look, it’s not hard to lie down on your belly in the brush next to a red ant hive and shoot a predator.”

Levi snorted and looked back at his superior, who shrugged mildly.

“It’s getting that shot that’s hard. So no, I would say my aim isn’t the best, but I can get there damnit. _I can get that shot_.”

“Oh,” Levi breathed. “Not bad.” He gave an almost imperceptible nod to his superior then stood back from the bars.

“Let me tell you what’s going to happen,” the seated man began. “You have a record of brawling with your fellow soldiers. This time, they’re going to court martial you. They will find you guilty of insubordination. They will give you a dishonorable discharge. They may even convict you. You will not receive pension. But they won’t brand you. Like I said, they don’t brand people anymore.”

“Not like that cowardly shit Hannes,” Levi interjected and Eren wished he could grab that smug fuck by the cravat and give him what for.

“We have a madman on the streets of London killing women,” the seated man continued. “Her Majesty, Queen Victoria, considers this a top priority. If you help us, we can see about getting your court martial delayed. If you help us catch him, we can make all of this go away. You’ll receive an honorable discharge and you and the wife can move somewhere else in search of better employment.”

Eren thought about it.

“No,” he said after several long seconds.

“No?” the seated man asked, confused.

“No?” Levi asked, his thin lips curling down with some distaste.

“No,” Eren confirmed. “You want me to help you find a murderer. You want me to help you trap him. I don’t do that. I’m good at one thing and one thing only.”

“Oh?” Levi asked.

“Killing,” Eren finished. “If you bring me in, I won’t hand him over to a judge so he can have a trial. I’ll shoot it.”

Because what do you do with a mad dog? You shoot it.

“Levi?” the seated man asked.

“Finally,” Levi breathed and his grey eyes glinted in the lamplight and Eren knew him then. “Let’s catch the sumbitch.”

<*>

Levi waited patiently while the gaoler unlocked the cell. Eren was by no means a giant of a man, but he towered over Levi nonetheless. When the cell finally clicked, Eren lumbered gracelessly towards him, expecting the shorter man to take a step back, but Levi remained immobile, unfazed by Eren’s attempt at intimidation. Eren tried to play off his failed tactic as a punch drunk misstep and shook out his knuckles again, rubbing at the scraped and bruised flesh.

“It occurs to me we haven’t been properly introduced,” the one armed man smiled, attempting to break the tension. “I’m Captain Erwin Smith. And this is Lieutenant Levi Pascal.”

“But you’re not with the military police,” Eren had figured out by their dress.

“No, we fulfilled our service long ago,” Erwin indicated the limp sleeve and Eren nodded.

“Right, so what are you now?”

“Scotland Yard,” Erwin smiled. He placed his good arm on Eren’s shoulder and Eren tried hard not to look like he detested being touched by him, but it must have shown because Levi fixed him with a piercing gaze. “Listen Eren, before I go talk to Pixis about your release, is there anything else I should know about you? Do you smoke? Drink?”

Eren shook his head.

“A pity,” Erwin smiled at his own joke. “Opium? Laudanum?”

“No. Sir,” he added.

“Good, never start. Any bad habits I should know of?”

“I think we’re looking at it,” Levi said flatly.

Eren’s jaw started working again.

“Good. Good,” Erwin repeated patting Eren’s shoulder. “That should help.”

The first few rays of cloudy sunlight stung and Eren took a deep breath, happy to be outside for the first time in nearly two days. A man waiting at the door handed Erwin a brown felt derby and he carefully adjusted it with his one arm before briskly stepping out across the yard.

“Thank you, Oluo,” Levi instructed the man as he took his own hat. “Wait for us by the carriage.”

Eren had to pinch his lips together to keep from smiling at Levi’s headwear, an ostentatious black gambler’s hat that if possible made him look even shorter and more thuggish. Then again, Eren reflected, a gentleman’s top hat on the short man would have looked even more ridiculous.

“Jaeger!” someone shouted across the yard and Eren tensed.

“Fuck,” he hissed.

“I don’t know how you fucking pulled it, but this isn’t done, you hear?” Jean stomped across the yard with the chaplain and others behind him.

“Jean,” the freckled chaplain attempted to reel him in.

“Who the fuck is this?” Jean spat when he caught sight of Levi. “Got yourself a Jew lawyer now? Well, that’s perfect!” Jean laughed. 

Eren lunged for him and before he knew it he was on the ground.

“W-what?” Eren sputtered gasping for air, but Levi put his boot on his throat.

“You really don’t learn do you?” Levi looked down at him. “That’s fine. I’ve found pain is a good motivator.”

“You heard what he called you and Michelle—“

“Don’t you dare for one second pretend that you were coming to my or your wife’s defense. You just want to fight for the sake of fighting. You do that again and you’re back in the cell. Do you understand?”

“Yes,” Eren struggled, both hands trying to push the boot off of him.

“Yes what?”

“Yes, Lieutenant, sir.”

At the mention of Lieutenant all of the men snapped at attention.

“I apologize for our appearance, Lieutenant, sir!” Jean snapped, face white.

“At ease,” Levi waved them off. “I’m retired.”

“I didn’t mean any of that, sir,” Jean sputtered still. “It’s just to get a rise out of him.”

Levi pointed at Jean, “The horse-faced fuck?” He looked down at Eren for confirmation.

“That’s him,” Eren nodded.

“Why you little—“

“Oh relax, I didn’t mean it,” Levi finally taking his boot off of Eren. “It’s just to get a rise out of you.”

“Hey ho boys, Pixis has got Captain Smith in his tent right now,” a private skidded toward them. “Oh hullo, Eren.”

“Hullo Connie,” Eren waved from the ground, massaging his throat with his other hand.

“Who?” Thomas asked.

“Captain Smith? Hero of the glorious war against the Zulu tribesmen? Wait does that make you—are you Lieutenant Pascal?”

Levi turned his head with a soft, ‘tch,’ and refused to acknowledge Connie.

“You are, aren’t you? They said that Lieutenant Pascal still holds the record for the highest kill rate! I heard you bagged over one hundred!”

“One hundred and eighty three,” Levi corrected uncomfortably. It was hard to take pride in your skill when your specialty was killing people.

“One hundred and eighty three?” Eren asked with a shrug. “You must be a decent shot.”

“I’m better than decent,” Levi snapped.

“He is, Eren,” Connie grinned. “Care to give us a demonstration?”

Levi looked around at all the eager faces. “No, I don’t do that anymore.”

“For the best, leave it to the young dogs now,” Jean cocked his head to the side, also curious to see if the short man was the killer they said he was.

Levi didn’t rise to the bait. “Are you any good?” he asked Jean.

“I ranked sixth in my squad,” Jean answered.

“Eighth,” offered Connie.

“Seventh,” Chaplain Bodt added.

“ _Chaplain_ ,” Eren teased and the chaplain blushed with embarrassment.

“And you were first?” Levi asked Eren.

“No, I told you, I’m only decent. I was fifth.”

“Tch. Why couldn’t I get one of the first four”” Levi looked at their faces, his face shrewd. He thought for a moment, attempting to shake dirt off of his boot. “Care to defend your fifth place title?”

“You want a demonstration of my skills?” Eren asked a grin spreading across his face.

“I want to know what I’m risking my job for,” Levi looked indifferent.

<*>

“Range is hot!” Shadis called out. “Fire when ready.” He hadn’t looked exactly happy when Levi asked him to place a gun in Eren’s hands, but he agreed nonetheless. Lieutenant Pascal had some serious clout.

Eren hit his target, Jean did not. Jean reloaded, aimed again and hit his mark.

“Six shots, six hits,” Eren crowed. “What’re you at Jean?”

“Seven shots, six hits,” Jean grumbled.

“Targets moving!” Connie shouted, cranking at the pulley.

The still targets were on posts and every crank Connie gave the mechanism sent the targets further away by 100 meters. So far they were at 600m. At 1100m the bullets rarely found their mark often missing by a good 70m, so they kept the firing range completely clear lest any strays find their way into bone.

“700m!”

“Range is hot!” Shadis shouted.

“Shit,” Eren cursed as he missed.                

Jean missed his as well. They reloaded and fired again.

“Eight shots, seven hits Jean!” Eren laughed as Jean missed his second. So far this was his best performance on the range. If he’d scored this well the first time around he was sure he’d rank first.

Jean cursed and reloaded for his third shot. He missed. “Well, that’s it, I’m out.”

Eren had defended his title. He looked up at Levi with a smug grin. “See? Decent.”

“Move the target. You’re not done,” Levi ordered.

Connie obliged.

“800m!”

“Range is hot!”

Eren took a deep breath and lined his shot. He missed. Three times in a row.

“Ah, well, I’m out. I never claimed to be the best. No 183 kills here.”

“Decent is an apt description,” Levi nodded.

“Levi was always ten for ten,” Erwin informed Eren.

They hadn’t seen him approach with Pixis and didn’t realize he’d been watching the display until now.

“Sure, but that was years ago, right? Still eight shots, seven hits with a broken hand…” he waved it in front of Levi’s face.

“Hm,” Levi hummed.

“And these are the Mk 4s,” Shadis said conversationally. “We were trained on the Mk 2s.”

“I’m not going to get on my belly on the dirt and shoot at targets for your amusement,” Levi snapped.

“I get it, you don’t want to soil your fancy coat,” Eren swung his arms at his side.

“Fuck. Shit,” Levi cursed, slapping his hat into Eren’s hands and pulling off his gloves to undo the buttons on his coat. “You shitty brat.”

“Yes!” Connie cried out triumphantly, pumping his fist in the air.

Levi rolled the cuffs on his sleeves before turning his coat inside out and placing it gently on the ground and settling into position.

“Resetting targets!”

“Range is hot!” Shadis shouted.

Everyone held their breath.

What a sight Levi must have been from the metal target’s perspective. Those pinched brows relaxed and he rolled the thick muscles that corded his back and took aim with the Martini-Henry rifle.

“One shot! One hit!” Connie called out. “Targets moving!”

As Levi reloaded, Eren noticed the dark powder burn between his thumb and forefinger. The black mark spread outwards feathering out to look like a single raven’s wing.

“Seven shots, seven hits!” Connie called out.

“I’ve already beaten your score, shitty brat,” Levi informed him.

“Well you’ve had so much more experience,” Eren drawled. “Being older and all.”

“ _Pisher_.”

Levi took a deep breath and Eren watched the small man’s ribcage expand and then as he exhaled—

“Eight shots! Eight hits!” Connie exclaimed excitedly. “900 meters!”

Levi stared down the length of his rifle, the line between his brows began to make an appearance so he closed them and breathed deeply before opening and firing.

“Nine! You’re at nine!” Connie was jumping for joy.

“Well fuck me,” Jean muttered, lounging against a tree.

“1000 meters! This is the last one!” Connie shouted.

“Range is hot!” Shadis boomed.

Levi fired and missed. He swore twice. Once in French and once in Yiddish.

“Reload and fire again,” Erwin ordered, slipping back into his past life as Captain.

Levi did so, not even moving his eyes from the target, his fingers moving on muscle memory alone. Eren held his breath.

“11 shots! 10 hits!” Connie would have clapped Levi on the back if he would have permitted it.

“Still the best,” Erwin smiled.

“I missed one,” Levi scowled. “It’s always the one.”

“Too bad we can’t do moving targets,” Eren shrugged as Levi beat the grass off of his coat with a particular vengeance. “I’m better with those anyhow.”

“Oi, I humored you once,” Levi snapped. “Let’s head out.”

“Eren,” the chaplain stopped him. “I hope you’ll still come by for service.”

“I’ll try, thanks Marco,” Eren nodded.

“And Lieutenant, you’re of course invited as well.”

“Thanks, but I don’t think I’m the sort you want there.”

“What kind of chaplain would I be if I didn’t at least try?” Chaplain Bodt smiled.

Despite the grass stains on the inside of his coat, Eren’s new Lieutenant appeared to be in a slightly better mood. Or a worse mood. It was hard to tell.

“First things first, we’re getting you to a doctor. Better men than you have died from a boxer’s bite. The human mouth is disgusting,” Levi said as they stepped into the cab.

“I need to go home,” Eren insisted. “I haven’t seen my wife, I need to let her know what’s happened.”

“Fine, but after that—“

“My physician lives next door. If he isn’t at my house already.”

Levi nodded.

“Well this appears to be a fine pairing,” Erwin smiled and they stared at him. “Nothing like a little friendly competition to smooth out wrinkles between people.”

“I’m not sure about that,” Levi corrected, picking a piece of hay off of his hat and casting Eren a sideways glance. “We’re still at that posturing stage, like dogs sniffing each other’s assholes or when apes beat their chests.”

“Well, get a good whiff, old man,” Eren rolled his eyes and looked out the window to hide his grin.

“Feh!” Levi jerked his head to look out the other window.

The modest house Eren lived in with his wife was meant to hold multiple tenants. Eren and Michelle occupied the left half of the house and the entire right was home to Eren’s physician. As the carriage pulled up in front of the home, a blond haired gentleman ran toward them.

“Eren!” he called then pulled up short when he spotted Levi. “I heard what happened from the chaplain.”

“Ah well,” Eren held up his broken hand and gave his old friend a sheepish grin.

Levi turned to Erwin, “I’ll meet you back at headquarters.” Then to Oluo, “Make sure he gets there, eh? No detours.” He made his meaning plain.

“No problem boss,” Oluo nodded and then cracked the whip.

“It’s not that big of a deal, Armin!” Eren protested.

“You were up for court martial! We didn’t hear from you for two whole days. Mikasa has been going out of her mind!”

“Michelle,” he corrected quickly, nodding over at Levi and Armin took his meaning.

“Michelle didn’t know where you were. What if you didn’t come back?”

“Then you’d take care of her,” Eren said. He’d meant it as a statement of fact but his voice hitched a little at the end.

“Of course I would,” Armin reassured. “Now let me take care of you. I need a look at your hand.”

“I think I sprained the wrist but I’m fairly sure I fractured my ring finger.”

It was now so swollen that his ring felt uncomfortably tight. Armin opened the door and ushered them in.

“Oh, Levi, this is Dr. Armin Arlert. Armin, this is Lieutenant Pascal, my new boss for the time being.”

“A mercenary?” Armin asked, his lips a little thin in disapproval.

“Detective Inspector,” Levi informed him, his grey eyes sweeping over the small home. Small, but cozy. Tidy, but he suspected that was because Eren spent most of his time at camp. Definitely a woman’s touch.

He ran a finger along the bannister and frowned when he found a small amount dust.

“I can get you a stool to stand on if you want to check the sconces too,” Eren called from the parlor as Armin wrapped his hand and Levi scowled.

The gaslight sconces, or light brackets, were dark at the moment and early morning light filtered in through the many windows. Levi stood up on tiptoe to look at the gas key, a luxury his flat didn’t yet have, but stopped when he caught sight of the woman on the stairs.

“Ma’am,” he nodded, removing his hat.

“Shoes too please,” she requested in a cool voice. “Unless you want to find the floor dirty the next time you come to visit.”

He noticed both Eren and Armin had removed their shoes and the door and he hastened to do the same.

“Mrs. Jaeger, I presume?” he offered her a hand and she took it. “ _Enchante_.” He snapped into a little bow.

“And you are?” she asked, her black eyes following him like a shark.

“Detective Inspector Pascal, former Lieutenant of her Majesty’s Service.”

She pursed her lips together but said nothing. Levi could think of nothing to say to her. His language (all three of them) was coarse and not really fit for the flowery nonsense one was supposed to spout at gorgeous women.

She crossed into the parlor and Eren jumped to his feet to embrace her.

“Mikasa—I—“

She slapped him. _Hard._

“I—“

She slapped him again.

Armin looked away politely but Levi couldn’t tear his eyes off of the unfolding scene. Tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth Eren tried to think of something to say, but there was nothing to be said. Michelle turned without a word and left the parlor. Levi realized his mouth was open and he closed it. He followed her into the kitchen at a distance.

“Would you like something to drink, Detective Inspector? Or is it Lieutenant?”

“Detective Inspector. My subordinates call me Lieutenant, but it’s more of a nickname now. Tea would be fine, thank you.”

“I’m afraid I only have black tea.”

“My favorite,” he said, picking up what must have been the couple’s wedding photo.

“It’s a different blend than your Earl Grey tea, it’s quite a bit stronger. I hope that’s alright.”

“I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

“Cream? Sugar?”

He shook his head.

She busied about preparing it as Armin finished seeing to Eren’s hand. Levi made himself comfortable at the small kitchen table. She set down the tea tray and poured him a small cup. He picked it up and took a sip.

“ _Parfait_ ,” he murmured into the cup as the warm sensation flooded over him.

She was watching him closely and he felt strangely self-conscious.

“Eren’s mother always said you could tell where a person started in life by how they hold their teacup.” She gave a thin smile.

Levi set it down immediately.

“’Americans,’ she said, ‘loop their fingers through the handle because they don’t know the difference between a teacup and a coffee cup.’ I don’t know if this is true, I have never had tea with an American. The English, I have noticed, pinch the handle between their thumb and forefinger. It seems to me they have a great deal of faith in something so delicate.” She moved her gloved hand and Levi realized her cup possessed no handles of its own.

Levi smiled despite himself and picked back up his cup.

“I apologize for the mismatched set,” Eren said from the doorway and Levi wondered how long he’d been watching them. “It was a wedding gift and I broke it the day of. It shattered into a million pieces.”

“My people have a wedding tradition where we shatter a glass at the end of the ceremony,” Levi offered as Eren came to stand by his wife, giving her a small peck on the cheek.

“Why is that?” Eren asked.

“There’s many reasons,” Levi’s eyebrows contracted as he attempted to remember. “Remembrance. The destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem, for one. But the way my mother always explained it was that when the Lord made us he made one soul and shattered it in two, so in a union of these two souls it is cyclical to end it by breaking something.”

Eren’s right hand interlaced with his wife’s and Levi watched her brush her thumb over his as she looked up at him peacefully, her anger seemingly abated.

“And to think you were talking about dog assholes just outside,” Eren laughed, ruining the moment.

Levi nearly called him a shitty brat but bit his tongue. Michelle laughed and slapped at her husband.

“Are you married Detective Inspector?” she asked.

“No, ma’am. I’ve not had the pleasure.”

“But you’ve got a girl, right?” Eren gave a shit-eating grin.

“Several,” Levi said before he could stop himself. Fucking shitty brat. “My apologies, ma’am, I’m not really used to talking to ladies. You know what they say. The only person who talks and acts more like a criminal than a thug is a copper.”

“Now, Eren, don’t use that hand you’ll only hurt yourself further,” Armin insisted, rushing in.

“I heal fast,” Eren grumbled.

“Mikasa, I’ll see you later.” Armin kissed her on the cheek.

There was a knock at the door.

“That’s probably Oluo, finally. I’ll be here tomorrow early and we can go through the case thus far.”

Levi opened it but to his surprise it was Erwin and not Oluo.

“It’s happened again,” Erwin said, his face grave and urgent.

“Nevermind, shitty brat we’re on!” Levi shouted. He grabbed Armin by the collar. “We’re bringing the doctor too!”

“What?” Armin sputtered in protest.

“I need someone with a medical background,” Levi insisted.

“Armin, go get your camera,” Eren jerked his head as his wife helped him button his coat and placed his beat-up black bowler on his head. When all four of them and Armin’s camera had piled in the carriage, they sped off to Whitechapel.


	2. Suffragette City

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Armin doesn't deal well with the crime scene, Male!Nanaba is a reporter, Levi gets help from a pickpocket, and Hange is a suffragist doctor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mary Ann Nichols, Annie Chapman, Elizabeth Stride, Catherine Eddowes, and Mary Kelly. These are the "canonical five" of the Jack the Ripper killings. There has been a lot of speculation over the years about Jack the Ripper (the most recent being DNA evidence proving Aaron Kosminski as the killer, which some claim is inconclusive). Jack the Ripper lore is steeped in anti-semitism and full of royal conspiracies. The shadowed figure of Jack the Ripper is often talked about, revered even, while his victims are waved off as prostitutes. I want you to remember those five names above. I want it to burn into your brain. You can have your theories on who killed them: a doctor, a butcher, a raving lunatic, etc, but let's be real here, the real perpetrator is misogyny, plain and simple.
> 
> My tumblr is [perksofbeingawaifu.tumblr.com](http://perksofbeingawaifu.tumblr.com/)
> 
> Tracking tag is #fic: boh
> 
> \--
> 
> For this chapter just remember that Annie Chapman is not the same as Annie Leonhardt. She'll show up later.
> 
> TW: blood and gore (you should just expect this in every chapter)

_And moving thro' a mirror clear_  
 _That hangs before her all the year,_  
 _Shadows of the world appear._

_-The Lady of Shalott,_ Alfred, Lord Tennyson.

The scene was chaotic, but Levi sprang into action, hopping from the carriage before it had come to a complete stop. Eren hopped out after him. Levi ducked under a rope someone had put up in a pathetic attempt to keep the rabble at bay.

“Get these people out of here,” he snapped to some uniformed officers. “Cord off the whole street. Eren this is my colleague Detective Inspector Mike Zacharias. Mike, this is a felon in my charge, if he runs off, shoot him.”

Mike was an imposing figure and he stared down at Eren who extended his hand to shake. Mike paused a moment before taking the hand and pulling him into an almost embrace and taking a long sniff.

“We had a little fun at the range,” Erwin explained appearing behind them.

Eren looked at him in confusion.

“He smells the gunpowder,” Erwin clarified.

There was a flash and a puff of smoke and Levi blinked and coughed.

“Great now they’re mobile,” he muttered to himself. “Nanaba, you twat, I told you we’ll make a statement to the press when we’re ready.”

“Mike,” Erwin jerked his head.

Mike picked up the camera and broke it over his knee.

“Hey that’s expensive!” Nanaba, a man with delicate features shouted angrily.

“Next time it’s your arm and I’m throwing you in the Thames,” Mike threatened.

“Oluo do something useful and stand out here and look intimidating,” Levi instructed. “Where the fuck is my doctor?”

“Here,” Armin said tripping over his black bag and camera equipment.

“We’re not going to wait for the coroner?” Mike asked, his eyebrows raised.

“By the time that fat fuck gets his ass off his stool the whole crime scene will be ruined,” Levi waved his hands. “I want the scene documented before we move the body for further inspection.”

A uniformed officer ran forward with a large apron and thick gloves. Levi wrapped a handkerchief around his head, covering his hair and advised Eren to do the same. He pulled out a small tin of something and smeared it under his nose.

“Thanks Nifa.” The officer nodded. “It’s gross and slimy but it beats a rotting corpse,” he offered it to Eren who in turn offered it to Armin.

“You ready, Private Jaeger?” Captain Smith asked, not bothering to ask Armin who definitely did not look ready.

“I’m ready. Is _he_ ready?” he whispered and jerked a gloved thumb at Levi. “Mr. Prim and Prissy?”

“Don’t you worry about Mr. Prim and Prissy,” Levi drawled and Eren jumped not realizing Levi had heard him. “Just try not to piss your pants.”

“I’ll wait out here,” Erwin informed them. “And keep the cogs working.”

“Right, well don’t wander too far,” Levi said before tying a kerchief over his mouth. He and Mike exchanged a look Eren didn’t quite catch the meaning of.

All suited up and looking more like chimney sweeps than gentlemen, they stepped over the threshold. Annie Chapman was discovered in a doorway leading to the backyard of no.29 Hanbury Street. The whole backyard had been cleared of people. Levi led the way with Mike and Eren and Armin behind him. Despite the heavy boots, Levi’s step was cautious and careful. There was a certain catlike grace to the way he padded around.

His eyebrows creased and his mouth hidden from view, he turned his head sharply to give instructions but stopped. While Mike had worked several scenes with him before, Eren was new to the whole thing, or so he thought.

“I know, single file, only step in the steps you’ve made,” Eren pulled down his kerchief to speak, his green eyes bright.

Cheeky little shit.

“Got that, Doctor?” Levi asked Armin.

The fragile man gave a small nod.

“Deceased is Annie Chapman, known around here as Annie Siffy,” Mike informed Levi. He’d been first on the scene.

“Langnar, write everything down,” Levi instructed unnecessarily as the officer was frantically scribbling in shorthand.

Armin gave a gasp and dropped his camera and turned tail and ran. Eren managed to catch the delicate piece of equipment before it fell.

Levi sighed, “Langnar keep writing down what Detective Inspector Zacharias tells you.”

“Sorry about that,” Eren said, straightening up.

Around the edge of the building, Armin had stripped the handkerchief from his face and was gasping in air, clutching at the brick wall.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” he muttered when Eren and Levi finally caught up with him. “I’m sorry Eren, I’m such a coward—I can’t—I just.”

“It’s fine Armin,” Eren said placing his bandaged hand on Armin’s shoulder. “Just breathe.”

“I thought I could because I’ve dissected cadavers and done field dressing before but this was—“

“Look, I’m not going to pretend it’s not as bad as it is,” Levi said in a low voice that only they could hear. “No one here thinks you’re a coward. Hell, look at all of these assholes standing out here. They don’t want to see it either. But this woman needs a witness. She needs you.”

“I’m s-sorry Detective Inspector, I don’t think I’ll be any help, I’m not, that is to say, I can’t do this.”

Levi waved over Erwin and Officer Nifa.

“I want us ready to go with the inquest immediately after this, so send word to Moblit’s and tell them to get the room prepped. What’s the word on finding _my_ doctor?” he asked Nifa out of earshot of Dr. Arlert while Eren attempted to convince him.

“I’m sorry, sir, but her husband said she’s in lockup.”

“Well, get her out,” Levi hissed.

“Yes sir. I’ll try, sir.”

“Look here, Dr. Arlert,” Levi turned his flat expression onto Armin. “We just need someone to document the scene before we move her. You don’t have to touch the body, you don’t have to get close, you just need to take pictures and tell your observations as a medical professional to Officer Langnar.”

“I can’t—I can’t—“

“Erwin what’s that story—“ Levi asked him. “The one with the strumpet in the tower?”

“I don’t know what you’re trying to ask,” his superior looked baffled.

“The strumpet in the tower and she’s weaving shit and she’s cursed and can’t look at anything directly so she has to look into a mirror. Then one day she sees her Prince Charming and she looks away from the mirror and it cracks and she dies.”

Eren and Erwin looked at each other.

“Are—are you talking about The Lady of Shalott?” Armin asked, his voice a little hysterical.

“That’s the broad,” Levi tapped his nose. “By that guy.”

“Alfred, Lord Tennyson?”

“That’s him.”

“What are you—how is that even—what?”

“If you look through the mirror,” Levi said shoving the camera into Armin’s hands. “You won’t break the curse.”

“Huh?”

“But if you don’t do this,” Levi said grabbing Armin by his shirt collar. “I might break you.”

Armin looked into Levi’s terrifying grey eyes.

“Through the mirror, you say?” Armin asked in a squeak.

Levi’s speech, while rambling and devoid of any comfort or eloquence, seemed to have calmed Armin down considerably.

“Subject is female in her mid-40s,” Armin cleared his throat and spoke with his eyes closed. He opened them only to stage the photo.

Levi picked up the dead woman’s wrist and dropped it gently.

“This stiffy isn’t yet,” Levi observed and Eren nodded in agreement.

“Erm,” Armin let out a little humming breath. “Mortis has not yet set in, but is in the process thereof. The left arm is set across the left breast. The subject has been—“ he fluttered a little and fiddled with the camera before taking a picture, “disemboweled, the intestines flung over the shoulders.” He coughed.

“You’re doing great,” Eren reassured him. Levi gave a curt nod.

“Tongue is swollen and the throat has been cut.”

Eren stood up and walked away from the corpse, taking care not to obscure any foot prints, although his precaution appeared to matter little as the ground was trampled thoroughly from the buildings frantic occupants earlier that morning.

“Jaeger?” Levi asked, still crouched by the body as Armin continued his report.

“Got part of an envelope here,” Eren observed.

“Don’t touch it until we get a photo.”

“Yes, Lieutenant,” Eren answered. Levi gave him a sharp look to see if the brat was mocking him, but he appeared sincere. “Got a comb and a piece of…looks like muslin. I’m guessing these are hers.”

Armin took a photo of the envelope and Eren picked it up with the gloves and peeked inside.

“Looks like two pills.” He handed the envelope to Armin.

“I’d need to look at them in better light but these look like they were prescribed by a doctor—possibly for lung related issues, but I can’t say for sure.”

They finished documenting the scene and by the time they were done the grid sweep that Erwin had ordered was complete.

“We’re almost ready here,” Levi informed Erwin, pulling off his kerchief.

“Good because the crowd is getting rowdy,” Erwin surveyed the mob with the predatory gaze of an eagle.

“Nifa, what about my doctor?”

“Still in lockup, sir. The arresting officer refuses to release her. He says you can get any different doctor.”

“I don’t want any shitty doctor, I want _my_ shitty doctor. No offense Dr. Arlert.”

“None taken, I don’t want to be here any longer than I have to.”

“What did she do this time?” Levi sighed.

“Officer Freudenberg says she bit a police horse.”

Levi snorted and if Eren didn’t know better he’d say that was almost a laugh.

“Right, well, I want you to call this officer and—“

“We can’t, sir. Lockup doesn’t have telephones.”

“What? Why not?”

“They’re putting in one of those fancy switchboards and all calls in or out are impossible.”

“Then Nifa I want you to craft a telegram. Ready?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Dear Schmendrik [STOP] release the requested offender immediately [STOP] If you do not I will be forced to come down there and shove my hand so far down your throat it’ll come out your ass and everyone will say Levi did you get new gloves and I’ll say no it’s fucking Freudenberg’s ass [STOP]. Now read that back to me.”

Eren didn’t know how Levi could say all of that without moving any part of his face but his thin lips.

Nifa paused a moment before asking, “Sir, how to you spell, Schmendrik?” Under Levi’s fierce glare, the officer wilted. “I’ll figure it out, sir.”

“Nifa, make sure you send one from me too suggesting the officer comply with Lieutenant Pascal’s request or he’ll find out how I lost an arm,” Erwin added, his commanding voice not obscuring the slight twinkle in his blue eyes.

“Y-yes, sir.” Nifa left.

“That’s not funny,” Levi scowled at Erwin.

The crowd surged and one dirty vagabond fell into Levi.

“Sorry, so sorry,” the dirty girl in men’s clothing picked herself up and tried to leave but Levi grabbed her arm.

“Are you kidding me?” Levi twisted her wrist forcing her to drop his wallet. “Look at these vultures here, Erwin.”

“Captain Smith!” Nanaba called from the throng. “Care to comment on the investigation so far.”

Erwin ignored him.

“How about giving a statement on why the police force insists on using Detective Inspector Pascal when he has a clear reason to sabotage the results.”

Levi apparently didn’t hear his name mentioned as he had turned the little thief upside-down and was shaking out her pockets. A pile of wallets, timepieces, and handkerchiefs was forming under her.

“What did you say?” Erwin asked swiftly.

“Since these are obviously Jewish ritual killings, the public wants to know why you haven’t arrested Leather Apron yet.”

“I don’t know where you heard these specious allegations but there is no truth to them. And how dare you, Nanaba. I thought you were better than that.”

“I can’t tell if you’re greedy or just stupid stealing from a copper,” Levi said giving the girl another shake.

“I’m not writing that, that’s what my competition is printing tomorrow, so give me a statement. Why is Pascal on the case, when he is obviously going to protect his kinsman?”

“Detective Inspector Mike Zacharias is lead on this investigation,” Erwin deflected. “Please direct your questions to him.”

Mike said nothing to the eager group of reporters and instead blew his nose loudly.

“Why don’t we know about Leather Apron?” Erwin asked Levi furtively.

“Who the fuck is Leather Apron?” Levi asked with a firm grip on his pickpocket.

“Really? You don’t know?” the girl asked upside-down. “Everyone knows Leather Apron. All the kids know to stay away from him.”

They stared at her.

“Right, well pretend I don’t know who he is.”

“What will you give me?”

“I won’t box your ears and throw you in jail, how’s that?”

“Naw, I ain’t a snitch.” She wiped her nose on her sleeve.

“What’s your name?”

“Sasha.”

Levi sighed. “What do you want, Sasha?”

She thought for a moment. “Something to eat. There’s a shop around the corner that makes really good potato dumplings.”

“Someone get the Scot a potato dumpling!”

She ate the whole thing in one bite and then started in on the second without taking a breath.

“ _Crasseux_ ,” Levi whispered as crumbs fell down her front.

“Now Potato-girl,” Eren started, because the girl seemed to have forgotten why she was receiving dumplings.

“Sasha,” she corrected with her mouth full.

“Care to tell us about Leather Apron?”

“Och. He’s a boot maker who has a shop around the way. He hits the girls—I heard he stabbed one once. Reeves. That’s his name, but we all just call him Leather Apron.”

“Why?” asked Eren.

“Because he wears a leather apron,” Sasha said as though that were obvious, which in hindsight it really should have been.

It was easy enough to find the boot maker. A large crowd had gathered outside his shop and was shouting loudly for his arrest. With most of the officers brought in to control the crowd at the murder scene, there was no one here to stop it.

With no warning and no indication he would do so, Levi pulled a revolver from his coat and shot it into the air. The crowd quickly dispersed.

“Is that standard issue?” Eren asked rubbing at his ears.

“No. If I want a gun for my protection I’m going to buy American. They love their guns.” Levi tucked it back into his wool coat.

They knocked on the door of the boot shop and when Reeves didn’t answer, Levi kicked it in.

“Reeves! You in here? Police!”

The man looked up from behind the counter where he’d taken refuge.

“What do you want?” he called suspiciously.

“To talk,” Levi shrugged, fiddling with the mail coach tie on his cravat.

“No, I’m not leaving,” Reeves said, ducking back down.

“You got a crowd out there saying you hurt girls, Reeves,” Levi informed him, apparently giving up fixing his cravat, pulling it off and wrapping it around his knuckles.

“They’re lying!” he shouted. “I only did it once!”

“So tell me about it.”

“No, you’ll just twist around what I say. You’ll make it seem like I was the bad guy. They made me do it!”

“You ever use a knife?”

“One of those whores bit my cheek and wouldn’t let up so I had to cut her!” Reeves shouted. “But I’m not going back! I won’t go back in!”

Eren heard the click of a double barreled shotgun too late.

“Lieutenant!” he shouted in warning.

Levi launched himself over the counter and his wrapped right fist came down on Reeves hard, knocking him into his own counter and out cold.

“ _Crasseux_ ,” he whispered again looking at his cravat as he kicked away the shotgun.

“Lieutenant are you okay?” Eren asked from behind the fixture he’d flung behind.

“That,” Levi said, removing the cravat and displaying his unhurt hand. “Is why you wrap. Good reflexes though, brat. You’d be good at this job.”

Officers came and arrested Reeves and took him downtown.

“Lieutenant,” Officer Nifa raced up to him. “Your doctor has been released and she’s on her way to the funeral home. The body is on the police cart on its way there.”

He reached inside his coat pocket and pull out another cravat. Eren stared.

“What?” Levi snapped because the brat’s expression annoyed him.

“I—uh—she?”

“Yes,” nodded Levi sagely. “Her. The Suffragist.”

<*>

Oluo pulled up outside of Moblit’s Funeral Home.

“Now, before we go in,” Levi instructed Eren and Armin. “Don’t ask her any questions. She’ll try to tell you all about her Suffragist nonsense— _do not encourage her._ ”

Armin nodded cautiously.

“You don’t believe in the movement?” Eren asked curiously.

“I didn’t say that,” Levi said enigmatically. “But if you ask her about it, she won’t shut up.”

They entered the funeral home and Levi gave a curt nod to the owner.

“My wife is in the backroom,” the dour man informed them.

Dr. Zoe Hange greeted them all enthusiastically. She was a tall woman in modest and outdated dress with a pair of four lens frames perched upon her nose. Her coat was a moss green that complimented her chestnut locks with a high neck and cream colored scarf and her skirt bore the slightly older bustle style.

“Zoe, this is Eren J—“ Levi never finished his introduction before Dr. Hange flung herself on Eren.

“Mesomorphic, predisposition to muscle build,” Dr. Hange exclaimed, wrapping her arms around Eren’s waist feeling his rib cage which tickled quite a bit before placing her hands under his cheekbones, “Low sloping brow, high cheekbones!” She felt his scalp. “Hmm, mm mmhmm.” She felt behind his ears. “The fifth organ is raised, combative nature.” Without any kind of warning she hooked her thumbs in his mouth. “Third molars in the upper quadrants!”

“An oo ple na oo at?” Eren struggled.

“Hmm?” she asked.

“Get your thumbs out of his mouth, that’s unsanitary,” Levi snapped.

“Oh of course!” she removed her hands. Tapping her glasses, she cleared her throat, “The specimen is Caucasoid, possibly of Germanic descent. Craniological examination concludes that the specimen is one of lower thinking but aggressive nature, possible career: a criminal or military service. Dental examination concludes that the subject is between 17 and 25 years of age! How did I do?”

“What?” asked Eren.

“Terrible. You could have guessed any of that just by looking at him.”

“Yes, but I backed it up with science,” she replied condescendingly. Without warning she felt at Armin’s head. “Large cranial capacity, suggested career: philosopher.”

“Zoe, this is Dr. Arlert. Dr. Arlert, this is Dr. Hange.”

“I’m not sure that Dr. Spurzheim’s physiognomical system is considered to be the scientific norm anymore,” Armin coughed lightly. “The model of phrenology is fairly flawed and is only still practiced by uh…charlatans.”

Dr. Hange winked inches from his face, “True, but it’s so very fun at parties.”

Armin blinked.

She felt around on his scalp, “The third organ is raised, suggesting high concentrativeness and—oh.”

Armin jerked out of her grasp quickly.

“Well, that must have hurt quite a bit,” she said kindly.

“Oh that,” Eren nodded. “When we were kids Armin fell out of a tree into a sounder of wild boar. Hit his head pretty hard. We didn’t think he’d make it for a while.”

“It—it wasn’t very pleasant.” Armin fussed with his chin length blond hair trying to hide the scar from sight though no part of his scalp was visible through the thick locks.

“Levi hates it when I do that. But only because I suggested his low brows and sunken eyes combined with his other elfin features—the pointed chin, the delicate nose—give him a decidedly sinister appearance. And as for his craniology—“

“Don’t touch me,” Levi instructed without looking at her hand hovering above his scalp.

“Ah well, as much as I’d love to fully examine his skull, I would much rather look at the organ inside! Imagine the human brain in your hands. I’ve heard that criminals have fewer gyri than geniuses! How I would love to dip my fingers into each sulcus and see what lay hidden there!” she gushed.

“ _Crasseux_ ,” Levi looked disgusted, while Armin and Eren were horrified.

“Well gentlemen. Let’s get started shall we? Let me just move these signs…”

She picked up several picket signs that read, “Votes for Women!” “The most powerful person in Britain is a woman! Would you deny her the vote?” “How long?” “To ask freedom for women is not a crime!” and attempted to find space for them elsewhere and that was when Erwin joined them.

“Captain Smith!” she exclaimed when she caught sight of him.

“Ah!” he dodged her attempt to shake his hand. “Sorry, I’ve learned to avoid you when you’re holding signs.”

She laughed, then at Eren’s confused expression she explained, “Captain Smith and I go way back. He was my first arrest!”

“You hit me with a protest sign.”

“I thought you’d deflect it! I didn’t realize you were, you know,” she indicated his arm. “Still got the cuffs on me easy enough.”

“I heard you bit a police horse this time. What did the horse do?” Erwin asked.

“Did you forget your glasses and mistake it for a police officer? You know you have shitty eyesight,” Levi asked and Erwin chuckled.

Armin gave a small gasp.

“No, the officer on top of said horse was being very rude. He said, ‘Lady, no one is crazy enough to stand here and listen to you spout this nonsense, not even you.’ So I said, ‘I’ll show you crazy!’ and I bit his horse and it reared back and threw him off.”

“Oh shitty glasses,” Levi put a hand to his face. “In a list of dumb things you’ve done, that is possibly the dumbest.”

“Excuse—“ Armin started.

Eren was doubled over laughing hard, “That is the funniest fucking thing I have ever heard.”

“Excuse me!” Armin shouted above the din, his cheeks a little pink. They stared at him. “Gentlemen! Please watch your language. This is a _lady_ and she deserves our respect. I would kindly ask you to refrain from such vulgarities.” He finished in a little huff, then added, “I apologize for raising my voice.”

“O-of course,” Levi said, his eyebrows raised in surprise. “My apologies Dr. Hange.”

Eren also muttered a quick apology.

“We should get to the task at hand,” Captain Smith suggested, defusing the situation.

“I agree,” Armin said, thankful that at least someone here had the courtesy to act like a gentleman.

When Armin’s back turned, Dr. Hange mouthed, “Lady” at Levi and smirked.

They once again donned thick butcher aprons, Dr. Hange requesting help from her husband to tie hers around her waist.

“This is the official inquest into the death of Annie Chapman,” Dr. Hange stated as her husband took notes. “Those present are Chief Inspector Erwin Smith, Detective Inspector Levi Pascal, Dr. Armin Arlert, civilian witness Eren Jaeger, myself and my husband.”

“I’ve got bruising around the throat and the tongue is swollen and protruding, suggesting your victim was strangled before her throat was cut. Throat has been cut from left to right.”

Squinting behind her glasses, Hange ran her gloved hands over the dead woman’s own. Eren was reminded how Levi said her eyesight was poor. How was she going to be of any help discovering anything they hadn’t already?

“It looks like she frequently wore rings on these fingers. Did you find any?”

“No,” Eren shook his head and behind him, Levi made a note. “What does that mean? Was it a robbery then?”

Levi shushed him.

Dr. Hange began removing the organs one by one and weighing them. Levi watched this process with mild disgust in his eyes.

“Hope everything made it here,” Eren mused. “Most of it was all over the doorway.”

Levi gave him a pained expression.

“Two not very healthy looking lungs,” Hange observed.

“We found two pills in an envelope that may have belonged to the deceased,” Armin remembered quickly. “I thought they might be for bronchitis.”

Hange looked inside the bag of evidence and seemed to agree with him, but stated they would need to take the pills to a pharmacist to be sure.

“Heart is average sized, although also not healthy,” she handed it to Armin who shuddered visibly but placed it on the scale dutifully. “There is one puncture wound here in the left ventricle.” She pointed and her husband made a note on a diagram of the body.

“You seem to have calmed down quite a bit from earlier,” Eren observed and Armin flushed.

“I apologize for my, ah, unprofessionalism earlier,” Armin murmured.

Dr. Hange looked up at them and although her mouth was hidden Eren could see a smile creep into her eyes.

“There is a large difference between a body in an alleyway and a body on a slab. Levi won’t let me visit his crime scenes. Delicate sensibilities and all.”

“That has nothing to do with it and you know it,” Levi was standing against the wall, his arms crossed.

“Don’t want the other coppers to know you have a lady doctor working for you?” she teased.

“I want the facts. And I don’t want them clouded by what you observe at the scene.”

“Ah, like the suicide that wasn’t?” Dr. Hange recounted some past event.

Levi nodded, “And yes, I don’t want the others knowing I have a lady doctor working for me.”

“What, afraid they’d make fun of you?” Eren asked mockingly.

“They already make fun of me. Because I’m a funny guy,” Levi deadpanned. “She’s the best and I don’t want them to kick her off the case. I’m pragmatic that way.”

 Levi didn’t seem like one hand out compliments lightly and Eren found himself looking at the strange woman in a different light.

“In any case,” Armin continued. “I agree that a more contained environment is far less upsetting. It takes me back to lecture.”

“My husband is a mortician, we work with dead bodies all the time. You get used to it.”

Armin appeared encouraged by this.

“Was your victim a heavy drinker? Her liver has seen better days. You’re married Eren?” she switched topics so quickly it took Eren a moment to catch up.

“Yes, two years now.”

“Hm. Didn’t think Levi would drag a married man around with him.”

“What’s that supposed to mean, four-eyes?”

“Just that Levi lives the hard life better suited to a bachelor,” Dr. Hange shrugged. “Does your wife know about the movement?”

“I’m sure she’s seen signs about it,” Eren said evenly because Levi was giving him a warning look.

“We’re always looking for more sisters to join our ranks!”

“Thanks but I’m not sure Michelle is the type of person to stand outside Parliament waving signs. She’s a very reserved person.”

“I have several pamphlets if you want to give them to her,” Dr. Hange suggested.

“I’m sure she’d like that, thank you.”

“Well even if she doesn’t want to hold signs at rallies we could always use people to hand out information and—oh?” She stilled like a dog pointing at game. “Hmm.”

She continued humming like this several more times before they got impatient.

“What?” Levi asked.

“Well gentlemen,” she said, picking up an organ and holding it up. “Behold! The cradle of life! The female sex organ.”

They stared at it and then at her and then at her husband and then at each other.

“Notice anything about it?” When they said nothing she reached forward and placed it in Eren’s hands much to his dismay.

“Is this a suffragist thing?” Eren asked confused holding the bloody organ as far from his body as possible.

“Part of it is missing,” she informed them, pointing.

Levi pushed off of the wall and crossed the room quickly.

“Well, where is it?” he asked.

“Not here, not in the tub of intestines you gave me. So it’s either out on the alley where you found her or—“

“He took part of it,” Levi finished.

Hange nodded. There was a strange shift in the room as the weight of this hit them. Captain Smith stared at the dead woman with a terse expression on his face and Armin removed his bloodied gloves and put a shaky hand to his head. Hange removed her gloves too.

“Your victim was choked before her throat was cut,” Hange reiterated. “And her throat was cut from left to right, so if you’re like the majority of the population and right handed, how does that happen?” She grabbed one of the paintbrushes she used to paint the signs. “Captain Smith can you—no sorry wrong arm, Eren—“ but Eren was still holding the bloody organ having never been given instructions otherwise. “Levi—no you’re too short. Dr. Arlert! Here!” She slapped the paintbrush into his hand. “Cut my throat!”

“What?” Armin looked at the brush horrified.

“If you were going to cut my throat with your right hand from left to right, how would you do it?” she tilted her head to the side.

A reluctant Armin stepped behind her and held his arm out with the paintbrush like a knife over her throat.

“So you see, he was behind her, and drew it across like this—“ she pulled Armin’s limp arm and drew the brush across her high collared throat. “If you were going to cut someone’s throat, how would you do it Levi?”

“Just like that,” he nodded.

Eren surmised that was very unlikely to happen unless Levi had a box to stand on.

“If you were taller than me, the blade would be angled up like this,” she rotated Armin’s wrist. “And if you were shorter, it would be angled down like this.”

“Which was ours?”

“Nearly straight across. Your killer is on the average to short side.”

Levi nodded. “That it?”

“No. Now if you were going to stab me in the uterus, where would you stab me?” she asked, still holding Armin’s arm in place to his distress.

Levi picked up a paintbrush and with the handle pretended to jab at her stomach.

“Lower,” Armin and Eren both corrected in unison.

“Lower,” Hange dragged his hand to the swell of her belly and held it there. “But you wouldn’t know that if you’re just a thug looking to stab a prostitute.”

Levi’s brows contracted slightly looking at his pale thin fingers stretched over the mossy fabric.

“You’d need to have a higher degree of knowledge about the human female anatomy.”

“Like…a doctor?“ Levi pointed with his other hand at Armin.

She nodded and released both of their hands. “Or…a butcher or a medical student or even a mortician like Bernard here.”

“What about you?” Levi asked Eren, who jumped slightly.

“My father was a doctor and I’ve seen him deliver babies before. I’ve also cut my fair share of meat. But I don’t know if I could find it inside a body and know what I was looking at.” He looked uncomfortable.

“So our killer might have medical knowledge or is someone who knows how to handle a blade,” Levi mused. He turned to look at Captain Smith.

“You know what to do,” Captain Smith said before striding from the room.

“Alright,” Levi said as Hange placed her gloves back on and took the organ from Eren’s hands. “Finish up here and stitch her back up. Jaeger?”

“Lieutenant?”

His back to Eren he turned his head only slightly, “If you wanted to put a call into your chaplain friend, you could.”

“Sir?”

“I’m not particularly religious, but wherever she’s going, I don’t want her going alone.”

Eren nodded and made the call. Chaplain Bodt arrived within the hour and with a cloth placed respectfully over her body, they put the poor woman to rest.

“What now?” Eren asked quietly as Marco’s prayers filled the funeral home.

“Shit kid, it’s dark, it’s late, haven’t you had enough for one day?” Levi asked.

“You said if I helped you I would avoid jail time and keep my pension and so far I don’t feel like I’ve been very helpful.”

“No, you haven’t,” Levi agreed. “Right then. Next we track the movements of the deceased over the past few days. See if she had any altercations with people, see if she knew our friend Reeves. Check all of the pawnshops, see if someone sold the rings she wore. And we should stop by the pharmacist and confirm what these pills are for. A pharmacist has a certain knowledge of the human body, right? That’s a good start.”

Armin told Eren he would rather not follow them and Eren decided that was only fair. Levi pulled out his wallet and handed Dr. Hange a check.

“The usual fee,” he said, tapping it.

“Good doing business with you,” Hange said grinning as she escorted them out.

“Oh and Zoe?” Levi paused in the doorway as Eren waited for him on the steps below. “Congratulations.” He pulled his hat down low over his eyes.

“Thanks!” she beamed, closing the door behind them.

The pharmacist was a bust. He confirmed the pills were in fact for a lung condition, but he didn’t seem like a killer especially with the tremor in his hands that he complained made it hard for him to fill bottles. Both Eren and Levi concluded that their killer probably had steady hands to do such vile work.

“I don’t get it. Why are we doing this?” Eren yawned. “It was that Reeves guy, right? Leather Apron?”

“Well, I don’t know if you are familiar with the legal system, but we need actual proof. This isn’t like olden times when we could just hang him and be done with it.”

They learned from a neighbor that Annie Chapman drank a lot and earlier in the week got into an altercation with a woman who lived in the same building over money.

“Why do you want to talk about Annie?” the woman asked nervously.

“Have you not been paying attention to all of the noise going on all day?” Eren asked her incredulously.

“Ohhh, you mean Dark Annie.”

“Dark Annie?”

“Aye, see, there’s Dark Annie and then there’s Light Annie. I socked the bitch, so what? She kept at me for my rent. But I paid her!”

That proved to be another dead end as they found she had indeed paid her landlord in full.

“You said there had been more killings?” Eren asked as they strolled down the streets.

Levi nodded. “This was the worst one though. Let’s see, there was a gang assault on a working girl, but I’m pretty sure that was her pimp. Then another girl was stabbed, but her throat wasn’t cut. Killings like that are pretty common around here, but the one right before this did have her throat slit and her gut was pretty cut up too. Name was Mary Ann Nichols. It wasn’t a pretty sight.”

“And you think this one and the last one are related?” Eren asked.

Levi nodded.

Eren thought for a moment, “I guess I don’t know why you went through all the trouble of pulling me out of a cell after only one murder—if, as you say, they are that common around here.”

Levi squinted off in the distance.

“You thought there’d be more,” Erin guessed.

“That last one,” Levi shook his head. “I couldn’t get a read on him. It was…feral. _Sauvage_. Then someone mentioned that Rogue Wolf you took down and I remember something the paper said, ‘I knew after one look at what the beast had done to cattle that it wouldn’t stop there and it wouldn’t be long before it grabbed a child.’”

“I did say that,” Eren remembered, scratching his head.

“How did you know?”

“I just did.”

Levi nodded. “That’s how I felt.”

“Have you ever heard about the Devil Cat of the Central Provinces?” Eren asked suddenly and Levi shook his head. “When I was about ten years old, a man-eating leopard terrorized the local camps. My mother begged my father to leave, but he refused. The natives said it was the ghost of a rebellion fighter killed back during the ’57 seeking revenge against the British Empire. But the big cat killed indeterminate of race. One night parents of a local girl brought her to my father for treatment. The Devil Cat had grabbed her by the neck and pulled her up into a tree. It lapped at the blood and then released her. She died before my father could do anything for her.”

Levi was looking sideways at Eren, trying to figure out why the man was sharing this.

“It didn’t even want to eat its kill, just prove that it could kill at any time. That’s when they knew we needed help and a call was put out to Hannes.”

“And that’s how you first met him?” Levi asked.

Eren nodded. “He waited for it to make another kill and convinced the parents of the child to leave the body for when the beast returned. It was pitch black and the animal was dark as soot, so Hannes attempted to coax it into the light but it kept right on tearing at the body. Hannes gave up trying to convince it to come out and be shot and so he went back to camp. The next morning when he woke, there were paw prints outside his tent.”

Levi tried to ignore the chill crawling up his spine.

“I guess what I’m trying to say is be careful because sometimes the thing you’re hunting starts hunting you,” Eren said, pausing in the light of a pub where several patrons were gathered. “And that we’ve had two men on our tail since the pharmacist.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Levi can't quite remember stories or poems correctly, although he does seem to know a lot of them. The curse doesn't break when the Lady of Shalott looks out, the curse _falls upon her._ And it's not Prince Charming it's Lancelot. I wrote this chapter in June and as you might have guessed, I was tickled by [Kate Beaton's comic](http://www.harkavagrant.com/index.php?id=360) and her take on this poem when it came out.
> 
> I don't think Levi knows how telegrams work.
> 
> The term "suffragette" was not popularized until later, outside the time period I've set this story, so that's why Hange is a suffragist instead. 
> 
> While the study of phrenology was mostly discredited at this time, the public still enjoyed it. Writers of the time, like Arthur Conan Doyle, still used craniology it to describe the criminal element.
> 
> If you like this fic please leave kudos and/or comments! 
> 
>  
> 
> [And now for something completely different...](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1946151/chapters/4206144)


	3. Where Everybody Knows Your Name

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jean confesses a secret about Mrs. Jaeger to Levi. Eren meets Levi's gang and finds out about Levi's "second job." Levi and Eren find themselves in an altercation with local thugs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mary Ann Nichols, Annie Chapman, Elizabeth Stride, Catherine Eddowes, and Mary Kelly. These are the "canonical five" of the Jack the Ripper killings. There has been a lot of speculation over the years about Jack the Ripper (the most recent being DNA evidence proving Aaron Kosminski as the killer, which some claim is inconclusive). Jack the Ripper lore is steeped in anti-semitism and full of royal conspiracies. The shadowed figure of Jack the Ripper is often talked about, revered even, while his victims are waved off as prostitutes. I want you to remember those five names above. I want it to burn into your brain. You can have your theories on who killed them: a doctor, a butcher, a raving lunatic, etc, but let's be real here, the real perpetrator is misogyny, plain and simple.
> 
> My tumblr is [perksofbeingawaifu.tumblr.com](http://perksofbeingawaifu.tumblr.com/)
> 
> Tracking tag is #fic: boh
> 
> __
> 
> TW: racial slurs  
> TW: violence

“Have you ever been to The Greeks?” Levi asked.

“Did you not just hear what I said?” Eren asked.

“I noticed them as well,” Levi said in a dark voice. “The Greeks is a pub few blocks from here, three up, two over. When you’ve ditched your tail meet me there.”

Eren nodded and the two suddenly separated.

Eren had thought when he and Levi separated that one would follow Levi and one would follow him, but instead both men followed close behind him and he couldn’t shake them. He turned a corner and saw a bum with a porkpie hat sleeping on the ground. He quickly switched their hats and swiped the bottle he held in his hand without the sleeping man waking before ducking into a large group of drunks standing around a lit barrel. Out of the corner of his eye he saw them pass by.

Feeling smug by his successful evasion, he made his way to The Greeks. He decided it would be faster to go through the back alleys and it was a very smart plan until a black hood came down over his head.

<*>

Levi kept his head down and moved through the throng of patrons in the pub and out the back. He got nearly a block before he heard footsteps behind him. Pausing in front of a window front Levi pretended to adjust his cravat getting an eyeful of his pursuer. Thug hat, tall build. What had Hange said were the craniological characteristics of a criminal? He couldn’t quite remember but he knew the shape of one when he saw it. Maybe if he was lucky the man just wanted to rob him. Levi stopped in a dark corner and wiped dirt off his shoe, giving the man a chance to mug him. His follower stopped and pretended to look in the same window Levi had just been looking in. No, the man was definitely following him.

Suddenly speeding up, Levi rounded the corner sharply, stomping his boots on the ground as hard as possible. Stripping his shoes with expert practice, he turned back around and ran silently at full force to the corner he’d just turned catching his pursuer hard in the middle with his shoulder.

“Who sent you?” he snarled, his gun against a very familiar jawline. “Oh fuck horse-face, what the fuck?”

“I can’t breathe,” Jean gasped. “You’re so tiny. How are you so strong?”

“Why are you following me?” Levi snapped.

“I—“ Jean looked embarrassed.

“Fuck, _how_ did you know where we were?”

“The Chaplain’s my buddy, he told me.”

“If you’re looking for revenge against Eren, you’re following the wrong man.”

“No, I—I was looking for you.”

Levi blinked. “Why?”

“Look, I’m sorry, this is a misunderstanding, I’ll go—“

Levi smacked the palm of his hand on Jean’s forehead forcing his skull into the cobblestones.

“Ow! Shit! It’s stupid, it’s so stupid. I—have you…have you met Jaeger’s wife yet?”

“Yes.” Levi wasn’t sure where this was going.

“She’s something else, isn’t she?” Jean met Levi’s eyes with a look of pain in his eyes, but that might have been the beating.

“I wasn’t aware you were an acquaintance of Mrs. Jaeger,” Levi’s thin lips barely moved, stepping off of Jean.

“Jaeger talks about her all the time and I—I got curious so I went to their house. We talked and there was a connection and—“

“Stop talking. Because if you say what I think you’re going to say I’ll kick the shit out of you.”

“I can’t help it. I love her! She’s twisted my head around, she’s driving me insane! She is the kind of woman who will ruin a man.” Jean grabbed Levi by the shoulders pleadingly.

“I tend to think men do that pretty well without any help,” Levi said, trying to pry Jean off.

“I had this ludicrous idea that if I goaded Jaeger into a fight—“

“You didn’t—“

“—in front of our superiors, that he’d be court martialed and jailed and she’d leave him—“

“What. Is. Wrong. With. You!” Levi said smacking Jean hard with each word.

“I went to see her after and she turned me away. I know what I did was bad, but I need to make it right with Jaeger. I need to tell him—“

“You don’t need to do shit and you should definitely not tell him his wife made him a cuckold—“

“Don’t you talk about her like that!” Jean took a pathetic swing.

Levi struck him hard. “You know when David sent Uriah to the frontline to die so he could have Bathsheba at least he did it right! He didn’t follow me down an alley to confess to something that I frankly don’t give a shit about!”

“Are you in love with her?” Jean asked quietly.

Levi closed his eyes, summoning all of the patience he could. “I have met her once, I have no feelings either way towards another man’s wife. We have shared one conversation. That was it.”

“That’s all it took for me,” Jean sighed.

Levi felt something unpleasant curling around his stomach.

“Just—he’ll listen to you.”

Why on earth would Jaeger listen to him?

“He talks about your kill record all the time, he was so star struck this morning, like he couldn’t believe you were there in the flesh. To meet you must have been the highlight of his terrible life. Just convince him that she’s not good for him. That he needs to leave her.”

This was news to Levi. Eren had given absolutely no recognition to him or his name.

“Why would I do that?”

“You care about him.”

“I don’t give a shit about Jaeger or his wife or you,” Levi gave an exasperated cry. Why was this conversation even happening? Why couldn’t people just talk to each other without dragging Levi into their mess? _Crasseux._ Messy people with messy lives.

“You got him out of jail, you clearly have some kind of investment in him. You’re a plain talker, just talk some sense into him.”

“I’m not going to do shit. But I’ll tell you what you’re going to do. You owe Jaeger one big favor. When the time comes, I expect you to act, no questions asked. You understand?”

Jean nodded slowly.

“Now, who was your partner?”

“What?”

“There were two of you following us. Who is your partner and where is he?”

“Partner? It was just me.”

“Shit,” Levi hissed looking out down the street.

Hopefully Jaeger wasn’t in serious trouble.

<*>

“Eren Jaeger?” a voice asked as the black bag was ripped off his head.

He was in some kind of abandoned warehouse. Two large men stood next to the chair they’d shoved him in.

“What’s it to you?”

“I’m Nile Dawk, I work for Scotland Yard. I’m sorry if we startled you—“

“You threw a black bag over my head.”

“We needed some place to talk quietly. How long have you known Detective Inspector Pascal?”

“The Lieutenant? I just met him this morning.”

This answer did not appear to please Mr. Dawk.

“And?”

“And what?”

“What is your impression of him?”

Eren snorted, “He’s an asshole.”

“And Erwin Smith?”

“He seems alright.”

“During your time together have you witnessed either of them engage in an illegal or unethical behavior?”

“Like what?”

“Dealing narcotics. Illegal substances. Taking bribes. Under the table dealings?”

“Look, I think you got the wrong idea here. They both seem like decent guys, they’re war heroes, both of them. I know the Lieutenant is a little prickly, but he’s trying to do good.”

“What is the condition of your arrangement with them?”

“If I help them in any way towards catching the Whitechapel murderer, I won’t be incarcerated.”

“And you think they actually have any authority to do that?”

That was the thought that had been dogging Eren all day. He swallowed.

“I’m not in jail, am I?”

“Maybe you should be,” Mr. Dawk stepped forward suddenly. “I have a proposition. If you report to me on Detective Inspector Pascal’s every move and any illegal activities you witness while under his charge, I will honor the deal you have with Erwin Smith. But if you don’t give me what I want and you’re in league with him then I can promise you that a jail sentence will be the least of your worries.”

Eren’s mouth went dry.

“You just think on that.”

Eren found his voice and goddamnit he should have shut up, but he couldn’t help it.

“You know what I spent all day doing? Actual detective work. If you had any evidence of your stupid vendetta, then I wouldn’t be here. And your death threat may work on all the little mom and pop shops you shake down but not someone who has stared down six tones of foaming crazy and shot it between the eyes.” Somewhere during his rant he stood up and crossed the room and jabbed his finger into Nile Dawk’s face. “Now, I’m not under arrest am I? I’m free to leave your little gentleman’s club at any time, am I right?”

Judging from the look on Dawk’s face that was exactly the case. He opened the door and before he closed it gave them all a two fingered salute.

The second he was out the door his bravado crumbled and Eren had an unpleasant feeling in his stomach the same feeling that matched Levi’s several blocks away.

The Greeks was a thin pub with a clean outside, although nearly all of the windows had black fabric blocking any visibility so Eren had no idea what he was walking into. He tried the door and found it unlocked. Checking the street to make sure any of Dawk’s people weren’t around, he darted inside and was greeted with a shotgun butt to the head.

<*>

“Stop! Petra! That’s him,” Oluo’s voice bellowed.

“You said bowler hat. That is not a bowler hat! That is a porkpie, I know my hats!”

“I switched it with a bum,” Eren gasped, hands over his eyes. It felt like he was trying to hold his skull together. Stars danced in front of him and when his vision finally cleared Levi was kneeling over him.

“Meet the boys!” Levi said, indicating his comrades standing behind him and leaning over Eren.

“Did you get shorter?”

Levi flicked him between the eyes right in the spot where he’d been hit before. Eren groaned and rolled over.

The woman named Petra helped him into a chair.

“What is this place?” Eren asked.

“The Greeks,” Levi said as though that were obvious.

“What’s The Greeks?” Eren asked.

“Her,” Levi nodded at Petra.

“Me!” she waved. “I’m The Greeks!”

“Did you ditch your tail?” Levi asked.

Eren felt his breath hitch. “Yes.”

“Good,” Levi sighed, sitting down heavily next to Eren, causing him to jump a little.

“What about you?” Eren asked, suddenly suspicious.

“Lost them in the crowd,” Levi waved. “Petra, love, would you get Eren a drink?”

The glass was cool and Eren pressed it to his forehead hoping the swelling would go down and he wouldn’t wind up with a large bump on his head. Through the foamy mug he could see Petra slip on top of Levi’s lap, a cigarette in her hand. She pressed it to her lips and took a long draw before leaning over and with her lips nearly touching his exhaled in a steady stream passing the smoke into his mouth.

They must have known he was staring because Petra said in a pout, “Levi doesn’t like ciggys anymore.”

“I never liked them,” Levi corrected. “It’s hard to keep your hands steady when you’re craving a fix. And they turn your fingers yellow. Dirty.”

“It’s good, though, right?” Petra asked and he nodded.

“Do you smoke Eren?” she asked, hopping off of Levi’s lap and shimmying over to him her honey colored eyes bright with amusement.

“I used to, but Levi’s right, it’s hard to take a shot when your hands are shaky. And…my wife doesn’t let me.”

“Ah, there’s the rub,” she said tapping her nose. “Well how about just one?”

She passed him a box lined with sawdust to keep the tobacco dry and he hesitantly reached for one. It was thin and small. He pinched it between his lips and he looked around for something to light it with but suddenly Petra’s slightly flushed bosom was right in front of his face. She slipped into his lap and instead of wrapping his hands around her waist like he very much wanted to do, he gripped at the bottom of the bench. He tried to look at Levi for some kind of indication how he was supposed to react to this when Petra held his jaw gently and pressed the lit tip of her cigarette against his. When it caught, she stepped off and flopped into a chair across from them.

“Well?” she asked as he took a drag.

“It uh, it reminds me of my wife’s tea,” Eren coughed a little.

“I’ll take that as a compliment,” Levi nodded and Petra looked happy nudging Levi’s chair with her heeled boot.

“Is uh, is this your girl?” Eren asked as Levi grabbed at Petra’s ankle playfully.

Petra snorted and rolled her eyes.

“Petra’s not anybody’s girl,” Levi said as she stood up. “She’s her own woman.” He aimed a smack at her backside. “C’mon, brat,” Levi motioned and they headed to a back part of the small part which had been sectioned off with a heavy black curtain.

The three men, including Oluo, were seated at the table with a scale and several papers, rolling cigarettes. Petra popped a licorice candy into her mouth and sat down in a chair reserved just for her.

“Keeps my mouth wet,” she winked at Eren.

“They say ciggys rolled by women have the sweetest taste,” Levi said over her shoulder and his men guffawed. Petra rolled her eyes.

“Good, then I can quit early,” Oluo complained.

“You’re wrapping them too thick,” Petra slapped at his hand, forcing him to drop the one in progress. “Small and thin, but powerful. Like Boss.” She ran her fingers up Levi’s ribcage.

“This is good shit, right Boss?” the light haired man asked.

“Very good Erd. You did good.”

“Here,” said Petra, pulling Eren down into a seat. “Take a paper. Take a pinch and—“ She drew her tongue over the edge of the paper. “Roll, like so!”

“Do I get a candy too?” he asked sounding a lot like a little kid outside a sweet shop.

“What do we say?” Petra asked.

“Please?”

“Well because you asked so nicely,” she said pulling out her tin and popping one into Eren’s mouth.

“Hey Petra, do I get one?” Oluo asked.

“No _vlakas!”_ she snapped. “You’re making them too thick again!”

“I heard women like it a little thick,” Oluo joked and they all broke out into laughter, Petra’s titter forcing even Levi thin mouth to crack a rare smile.

Stepping behind Eren, Levi leaned over to inspect the work he’d done. For a moment Eren could feel the shorter man’s chest pressed against the back of his head as he plucked one from Eren’s pile. Eren turned to look up at him and Levi was struck with how eager those green eyes were. So eager to impress. Perhaps Jean was right.

Levi struck a match and lit up the cigarette, despite his previous indication that he didn’t like the mess.

“You’ll want to hold on to those,” Eren nodded at the matchbook. “I heard the girls are striking at the factory.”

“I’ve got some set aside for exactly that reason,” Levi exhaled. “These are good, very good. Should turn a nice profit. Everyone, this is Eren Jaeger.”

They all greeted him silently, hard at work.

“Eren, this is my second in charge Erd Jinn. He’s my connect abroad. This is Gunter Schulz, my contact at the docks. You know Oluo, he’s my distributor. And Petra runs our wash house.”

“Wash house?” Eren wrinkled his nose. This was a bar. Not a wash house.

“She runs the front of house so we can launder the money.”

“The money from what?” Eren asked confused.

“The ciggys, Jaeger,” Levi sighed.

Eren dropped the one he was rolling and stood up suddenly, knocking over his chair in the process. The rest of the group jumped up as well, to keep the table of product from upsetting.

“This, this is illegal?” Eren asked, shocked and suddenly angry.

“Fucking shit, Jaeger, are you really that thick?” Levi sighed, throwing the cigarette on the ground to put it out.

“Don’t call me stupid!”

“If the shoe fits.”

“Fuck.” Eren shouted kicking the tipped over chair. “After I defended you and everything! Goddamnit!”

“Calm down,” Levi ordered.

“No, I won’t! You lied to me!” Eren swiped angrily at the curtain, making his way to the front of the bar.

“When did I ever lie to you?” Levi followed him.

“You said you wanted me for my skills, but really your whole plan to get me out of jail was just to conscript me into your gang! I should go to that Dawk guy and—“

“I said calm down!” Levi ordered.

“Why should I?” Eren shouted.

“Not, you. Them.”

Eren felt something cold and sharp press at his kidneys, and when had Petra retrieved the sawed off shotgun from behind the bar?

“He’s not going to say anything, he’s just running his mouth.”

“I can sew that mouth shut, Boss,” Oluo grunted.

“Sit down, Jaeger.”

“No.” Eren stuck out his jaw defiantly.

God he was stupid. He’d rather get knifed and shot in this bar over his own stupid stubbornness.

“Eren. Sit down.” There was a strange gentleness in his voice and Eren reluctantly complied. “I brought you here to help you.” When Eren opened his mouth angrily, Levi said, “Shut up and stay quiet until I finish. Erwin organized that deal for you, but what happens after you’re released from my watch, hmm? You’ve got no job and you’re not making any money. How are you paying your rent? You don’t own that house. How are you going to buy your wife pretty dresses and expensive tea? How are you going to pay back your doctor friend for all the times he’s patched you up for free?”

Eren ran a tongue over his teeth. He’d been relatively short sighted he knew, but every time he tried to contemplate the future his stomach rolled over and he felt a tightness in his chest.

“You can leave right now and not say anything. Or you can stay and make a little extra cash, at least until you find a new job.”

Eren chewed on his cheek, thinking. “Fine.”

He rejoined them behind the curtain and after an hour of them rolling cigarettes in silence, Levi stretched and called it a night. He handed Eren a full envelop.

“Your cut for the night,” Levi said and Eren reluctantly took it.

“Good, maybe I’ll actually get paid for the beer you all take for free,” Petra grumbled.

Eren was still staring at the envelope in his hands.

“What?” Levi asked sharply.

“It’s just. The whole operation seems so…petty for you.”

“Eren, my mother always used to say, ‘The smallest gardens bear the sweetest fruits.’ Now at the time I thought she was trying to comfort me for my small stature, but now I know what she meant is it’s okay to dream big, but you need to start small and work the land you have. The ciggy operation is small enough that it doesn’t raise too many eyebrows, makes a decent pocket, and doesn’t hurt anyone. Except the government, but they get enough tax money from me. If you want a bigger reward, you need to take a bigger risk and I don’t want to ask that of my people.”

Erd, Gunter, and Oluo set up a card game on one table and Petra brought them all drinks, before sitting next to Eren and Levi.

After a few minutes of Eren staring off into the distance moodily, Petra tried to break the silence.

“Give me your hand,” she snapped her fingers in front of his face.

He offered her his unhurt hand and she examined his palm. Cigarette in her hand, she peered at the fine lines.

“Well, you’ve had some shit happen to you,” she observed. “You’re an honest person.” She pointed at a line that Eren was sure had nothing to do with honesty. She tucked the cigarette in the corner of her mouth. “You have a very long and fine fate line.” She walked her fingers down his palm and Eren gave a little laugh at how it tickled. “Same as the Lieutenant. You two were meant to find each other.”

Oluo came over, shifting from one foot to the other, looking annoyed and angry and Eren wasn’t really sure why.

“Where does it say that he’s an angry shithead?” Oluo looked down at them.

Petra ignored him.

“I have some bad news, though,” she continued. “Your love life is fucked. It’s fixable, but at the moment it is fucked.”

“Oh and what, you’re gonna fix it for him?” Oluo spat angrily. “I swear---“

Petra smacked the side of his head and he bit his tongue.

“Ow! Fuck! You made me bite my tongue!”

“Maybe that’s the gods’ way of letting you know you should shut your mouth!”

“Woman!” Oluo roared. “I’m tired of you telling me what to do.”

“ _Vlakas!_ ” she spat. “ _Ay gamisou!”_

She stalked off to the back of the bar and he chased after her.

“Did I do something wrong?” Eren asked, frozen in place.

Levi, Erd, and Gunter didn’t seem bothered or surprised by the incident in the slightest.

“It’s bad enough I have you calling me stupid in front of the others, but now you have to put on a show with the new guy?” Oluo shouted, stomping after her up the stairs.

“Stupid! Stupid, stupid!”

Their voices trailed off but the sound of shouting was still audible and they could hear the sounds of muffled footsteps and the sound of a glass shattering.

“Should we do something?” Eren asked, worried that the coach driver might strike the pretty barmaid.

“Sh!” Levi put up a hand.

The four of them listened intently. Petra was shouting something repeatedly and Eren was struggling to understand.

“ _Thee mou! Thee mou!”_ she repeated and Eren didn’t know what that meant in Greek but he didn’t need to as its meaning was clear. His eyes widened and he flushed pink.

“There it is,” Levi said pointing at the bedroom above their heads and Gunter and Erd broke out into raucous laughter.

“ _Thee mou!”_ they shouted loudly banging their fists on the table in laughter.

“We shouldn’t be listening—this is—“ Eren took a large swallow of his beer.

“Oh please, Eren, we’re all adults. And you’re the only married one among us,” Levi rolled his eyes. “Erd’s got a girl.”

Erd nodded. “I’m saving up my earnings, Boss. Going to take her somewhere nice. Somewhere by the sea.”

“You should ask her to marry you, make an honest woman out of her,” Levi advised. “So you don’t wind up like those two upstairs. Speaking of, you should get back to your wife.”

Eren shook his head. “You said you’d go over the past cases in more detail. I want to know everything so I can be more helpful next time. If there is a next time.”

“Why? You afraid to go home?” Levi asked.

“No!” Eren answered heatedly, but judging by the looks on all of their faces, they all knew that was exactly the case. “I just want to be helpful is all.”

“There aren’t many married men in the service, are there?” Levi observed.

“No, not really.”

“So you got married, then immediately enlisted. Then you get kicked out and the first thing you do is stay out all night. Seems to me you’re avoiding something. You need to treat your woman right or before you know it she won’t be your woman.”

Levi knew that was already half true.

“Gee thanks. Because what I really wanted was a lecture from a French Jew dwarf who spends his off hours running an illegal cigarette ring.”

Levi rolled his neck to look at Eren with that critical look he always wore.

“…Sorry for calling you a dwarf,” Eren muttered into his cup.

They could hear heavy footsteps on the stairs and Oluo sauntered into the front of the bar with a smug expression. He adjusted his belt before swaggering over to Eren.

“Sorry for what I said,” he drawled. “Women. They make a man crazy, am I right?”

“Amen,” Eren said, feeling flushed and warm from the beer.

“I keep hearing that today,” Levi observed and Eren noticed he also had a little color on his pale cheeks.

“Hm?” Eren asked.

“Men blaming women for the crazy shit they do.” Levi lit another cigarette and blew a couple of smoke rings lazily watching them drift up to the ceiling. Between Reeves, Jean, and Oluo it seemed like a pathetic mantra.

Eren and Oluo exchanged a look.

“Sorry, Boss. You know I meant no disrespect,” Oluo explained quickly.

“’S fine,” Levi waved him off. He was slouching low on the bench, his chin resting on his chest, holding his cigarette in his thin lips but not taking a puff seemingly lost in thought.

“Here,” Eren said leaning over and taking it from him. He tapped it into an ashtray. “You’re going to get ash all over your fancy tie there.”

“I don’t like cigarettes,” Levi repeated. “And I don’t like beer.”

“Could have fooled me,” Eren laughed.

Levi kicked him a little, then shifted and his leg pressed up against Eren’s but Eren seemed not to mind. Petra came downstairs with a fierce expression on her face as though daring any of them to mention the earlier incident. They all knew better and she relaxed and withdrew a stack of cards. Oluo leaned on the bar, whispering what he thought were sweet things as she placed them along the bar. A few more patrons filtered in. Eren would have thought it was too late for them, but the later it got, the busier the bar became. Petra lined up four shots of some clear liquor and she and the others downed them with a shout.

Petra brought them another round and Eren really shouldn’t have, but he started in on his beer. He set it down and placed his hand on his lap, his thumb accidentally touching Levi’s leg. He brushed it slowly back and forth and Levi appeared to enjoy the sensation but Eren wondered how drunk he actually was and if he even noticed.

“Good news Eren!’ Petra called over the small din. “The cards say you can expect a small sum of money in the coming month!”

“It’s true,” Eren’s eyes widened tapping the envelope in his breast pocket.

“Shut up, shitty brat.” Levi chuckled lowly and Eren relished the sound.

“Hey Petra! What else do the cards say?” Eren asked.

“You might need to have some work done on your property,” Petra squinted. “Some maintenance or something.”

“Well there goes my small sum of money.”

Levi laughed lowly again and kicked him for good measure.

“What about me Petra, am I going to catch my killer?” Levi asked.

“You said you don’t believe in the ‘shitty cards.’”

“That’s true, I did say that.”

“The cards say…well I think they say ‘yes.’”

“Do I help?” Eren asked.

She flipped a card. “Yes you do!”

She and the boys took another shot of the clear liquid and slapped their hands on the counter in celebration. The pleasant buzz Eren felt and the warm atmosphere was broken when six large men pushed their way into the bar. The way they looked around the place sent the bar into a quiet hush.

“Who’s the Jew who owns the place?” the leader asked.

No one said anything.

“I asked a question!” the leader asked again. “Where’s the Jew who owns this place?” There was a chorus of “You tell ‘em Daz!” from his lackeys.

“I am,” said Levi sitting upright. “I’m the Jew.”

They turned around and the six of them formed a wall.

“Petra,” Levi drawled. “Get the gentlemen a drink. On the house.”

“You think I need your fucking charity, Christ-killer?” Daz, the leader spat.

“What did you do, walk up and down the block until you found the first business owned by a Jew?” Levi asked.

From the looks on their faces that was exactly what they had done.

“Fucking Cossacks,” Levi muttered into his cup as he took another sip.

“What did you call me?”

“I called you a fucking cocksucker. _Cochon_. Pig,” Levi growled and the group leader sputtered angrily. He stood up and downed his drink. “Eren?”

“Yah?” Eren said, standing up as well, clutching on firmly to his glass.

“Tell your doctor friend I am sorry about your hand.”

“What can you do?” Eren said, shrugging before bringing his glass hard down on the man nearest him.

It wasn’t pretty. Levi jumped from the bench onto the table and then launched himself into the group, knocking several of them into one another. Eren preoccupied himself rolling around on the floor exchanging blows with his man. Before he knew it, Oluo had one man by the throat. Erd began throwing knives, several imbedding themselves into the wall. Levi grabbed hold of one man and spun him so a thrown knife buried itself in the man’s shoulder and he howled. Daz picked up Levi and shoved him against a wall, only to have buckshot explode by both of their heads.

“Damnit Petra! Stop shooting holes in my bar!”

“It’s my bar too! I own half!”

One of those knocked to the floor earlier stumbled for the door and Gunter kicked his ass outside. Eren felt something crack over the back of his head. He felt for it and his hand came away bloody. Petra’s tarot cards were flying everywhere like confetti. Daz was kicked against the bar by Levi and when he tried to get up found Petra’s shotgun in his face. Out of knives to throw, Erd ripped his out of the man’s shoulder and the man ran screaming outside, followed by another. Gunter stepped in to help Oluo and the two of them flung him outside.

“Eren!” Levi shouted.

But Eren couldn’t hear anyone or anything and he continued wailing at the man on the floor.

“Eren enough!” Levi pulled him off and Eren struck him in the jaw.

Oluo and Gunter grabbed both of Eren’s arms long enough to let the man under him escape. Rubbing his jaw Levi grabbed both sides of Eren’s head.

“Eren!” he called from somewhere very far away. “Focus!”

Breathing hard and spit foaming at the corners of his mouth Eren struggled, but Levi held on to his head looking straight into his eyes.

“Come back,” Levi coaxed. “Come on back.”

Eren suddenly felt very heavy and he sagged to his knees.

“The fuck was that?” Oluo asked Levi.

“I’ve seen that on the battlefield before,” Levi explained. “Men go berserker. Don’t know when to stop, don’t recognize an enemy from a friend. How’s your head, Eren?”

“Ow.”

“Scary as shit is what it is,” Oluo said dropping Eren.

Eren stood up clutching his head and took the towel Gunter offered him and pressed it there.

“Knife,” Levi ordered holding out his hand and Erd slapped it into his palm. “Daz, was it?” he asked the man on the bar staring down the shotgun in Petra’s hands. The man nodded. “The next time, you and your little friends think it’s a great idea to get drunk and go in search of a Jew to beat up, I want you to remember this.”

Levi drove the knife through the man’s palm, deep into the wood bar top. Daz screamed and struggled but couldn’t pull it out.

“You fucker you fuck you fucking fucker!” he cried clawing at it. “Take it out.”

“I’m not sure that’s possible without making it worse,” Levi observed coolly.

“Now who’s putting holes in the bar?” Petra sighed.

“Eren?” Levi asked, checking on the boy.

“Sorry, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” Eren apologized over and over again. “Did I do that to your jaw?”

“Yeah, you got the best hit in the night.” Levi touched it tenderly. “We should call your doctor. I don’t like that head wound.”

But the doctor that showed up was not the doctor they expected.

“What the fuck are you doing down here, shitty glasses?” Levi asked and he looked frighteningly angry. “You shouldn’t be down here this late at night. Especially in your condition! There is a man out killing women!”

“Oh please, I’m expecting, not a porcelain doll,” Dr. Hange waved him off. “Besides, look what I got—“ she pulled a little handgun out of her purse and waved it around.

“Put that away before you shoot somebody!” Levi hissed. “I can’t believe your husband let you out of the house at this time of night!”

“Excuse me?” her eyes raised and she towered over the short man. “Let me? I am not chattel!”

“Of course not,” Levi said quickly. “It’s just that I called for the other one.”

“I’m— _hic_ —here,” Armin said, looking very bleary eyed.

“I found him down the street at a bar,” Dr. Hange explained.

“I apologize profusely for my inebriettted—inebrieated—I apologize for being shit faced,” Armin managed. “Hullo Eren.”

“Hullo,” Eren greeted him. “I got hit on the head. And I think I made my hand worse. I thought you didn’t drink? Teetotaler.”

“I have had a very trying day and if I want to have a drink then damnit!” he pounded his fist on the table, startling them. “I will!”

“There, there,” Eren said patting his friend’s head.

“That’s fine I don’t think the majority of us are sober,” Levi looked at least a little bit embarrassed by this fact.

“Who clocked you?” Dr. Hange asked, tilting Levi’s chin. Levi nodded over to Eren. “Well you two are becoming fast friends, aren’t you?”

“I have no friends,” Levi shook out of her grasp. “ _Je n'ai besoin de personne._ ”

Dr. Hange continued looking at him with a particularly smug expression.

“Is anyone going to help me!?” Daz cried from the bar.

“I can explain,” Levi said at Dr. Hange’s expression.

In the end, Hange stood on top of the bar, and with her foot on his wrist and both hands around the handle managed to pull the knife out of Daz’s hand. It took her a few tries and Daz started screaming bloody murder so Petra shoved a dirty rag in his mouth. After she stitched him up and sent him on his way (with a threat from Levi that he’d cut his throat if he squealed), she tended to Eren’s head.

“I mean,” Armin continued his conversation with Eren. “I held a human heart in my hands today. In my hands.”

“Well I don’t think you need stitches,” Hange told him. “Just go easy for a few days. And you—“ she pointed at Levi. “Watch him and don’t let him fall asleep.”

“You’re my best friend,” Armin told Eren.

“You’re _my_ best friend!” Eren insisted.

“I hate beer,” Levi repeated with a sigh.

Armin was struggling to sit upright.

“You know how I got this scar on my head?” he asked them loudly.

“You two told us already,” Hange reminded them.

“I crawled out onto a branch over a sounder of wild boar,” Armin continued anyway.

“Only because I dared you,” Eren corrected with guilt in his voice.

“And the branch broke and I fell into the pig pit. I hit my head really hard. I almost _died_. But it wasn’t from hitting my head. One of the boars gored me. Boar tusks are razor sharp and disgustingly filthy yet most people die not from blood loss but from infection.”

“ _Crasseux_.”

“Exactly,” Armin nodded. “Their tusks are like poisoned knives.” He wiggled his fingers by his mouth like ugly boar tusks. “The only reason they didn’t kill me in that pit is because Eren jumped into the pit and pulled me out. That is the kind of friend Eren is. The kind of friend who will jump into a pit filled with a thousand poisonous knives for you.”

Armin finished and then glared at Levi.

“…What?” Levi asked after a few moments of their drunken stare contest.

Armin waved his arms about indicating the bar in disarray and the many knives stuck in the walls. As if on cue, one of them clattered to the floor.

“Point taken.”

Eren laughed sleepily into Armin’s side.

“Hey, you,” Levi snapped his fingers in Eren’s face. “Shitty eyes says you can’t fall asleep or else you might not wake up. I better take them home.”

He made Oluo drop Hange off at her door and didn’t leave until he watched her enter the funeral home safely. By the time they made it to the Jaeger/Arlert shared house, Armin had passed out and Eren’s head kept lolling around.

“Eren!” Levi snapped his fingers in front of Eren’s head.

“Fuck off,” Eren waved him off.

Oluo had to help him drag them in. Eren couldn’t get the key in the door so Levi had to do it.

“Sh,” Eren said loudly, nearly knocking over a vase. “My wife can’t know I’m drunk.”

They collapsed on the parlor sofa. Levi propped the two younger men against each other. He waved Oluo off and then curled up on a chair next to the sofa. He could hear the grandfather clock in the hallway and whenever it made enough ticks, he reached over and shook at Eren until he woke up.

Levi didn’t know when he fell asleep but when he woke up his fingers were in Eren’s hair and there was a steaming cup of black tea on the table in front of him. He reached for it and took a deep breath, letting the heat clear his sinuses. He took a sip. Damn. Eren might not want to go home to his wife but if Levi had this waiting at home for him, he’d never want to leave.

“I trust this you aren’t going to make a habit of this?” Mrs. Jaeger asked sternly from the doorway, holding a bucket in her hand.

“No ma’am,” Levi sat up and ran a hand through his hand, attempting to straighten it.

She was wearing a plain front, natural form dress in scarlet. Her dark hair was pulled back onto the top of her head in a loose knot. There were no frills for Mrs. Jaeger. Levi cast a guilty look at the other two and realized how the three of them must look. She crossed the room and set down the bucket in front of Armin.

“Can I make you anything to eat, Lieutenant?”

“No thank you ma’am. I wouldn’t want to impose,” he said.

“It would be no trouble,” she said evenly, not blinking when Armin woke suddenly and hurled magnificently into the bucket she’d placed out for him.

“No, I should—I need to get going. Thank you for the tea.”

Levi stood up and made to leave. Mrs. Jaeger followed him to the door and before he could escape, she leaned forward. His breath caught in his throat. With her dexterous fingers she adjusted the knot in his cravat and smoothed the front.

“Every Friday I make a special dinner for my husband and Dr. Arlert. You’re welcome to join if you want.”

No, his brain warned. No, definitely not. No, no, no, no, no.

“I—“ he started.

“Good,” she said. “I’ll make duck.”

His brain on fire, he caught a cab to his flat, where he fell face first into bed. He was awoken only a few hours later by a very rude pounding on the door.

“Pascal!”

Fuck, it was Sannes, one of Dawk’s fucking lackeys.

“I know you’re in there. Dawk says to get your ass down to Scotland Yard now!”

Levi groaned.

“They found a woman’s torso,” Sannes informed him.

Levi shot upright. “Where?” he asked through the door.

“Whitehall.”

“As in our new headquarters, Whitehall?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you like, please leave comments and kudos! [And now for something completely different!](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1946151/chapters/4206144)


	4. And This One Went Wee-Wee-Wee All The Way Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kaney leaves Levi a grisly greeting. Eren encounters a suspicious woman and follows her, nearly getting himself killed in the process.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mary Ann Nichols, Annie Chapman, Elizabeth Stride, Catherine Eddowes, and Mary Kelly. These are the "canonical five" of the Jack the Ripper killings. There has been a lot of speculation over the years about Jack the Ripper (the most recent being DNA evidence proving Aaron Kosminski as the killer, which some claim is inconclusive). Jack the Ripper lore is steeped in anti-semitism and full of royal conspiracies. The shadowed figure of Jack the Ripper is often talked about, revered even, while his victims are waved off as prostitutes. I want you to remember those five names above. I want it to burn into your brain. You can have your theories on who killed them: a doctor, a butcher, a raving lunatic, etc, but let's be real here, the real perpetrator is misogyny, plain and simple.
> 
> My tumblr is [perksofbeingawaifu.tumblr.com](http://perksofbeingawaifu.tumblr.com/)
> 
> Tracking tag is #fic: boh
> 
> __
> 
> Ahhhh yes, the [Whitehall Mystery.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitehall_Mystery) Still unsolved! The Whitehall Mystery actually happened in October, so I messed with the timeline a little bit to further my story.

The new home of Scotland Yard was still in construction. There were men coming and going to and from the construction site so it was, ironically, an ideal location to dispose of a body. Or rather part of a body. Wrapped in black, likely a petticoat, and tied with twine, it made a pretty package, until some poor idiot opened it and found the nightmarish present within.

Levi raced to the scene and grabbed the coroner’s attention immediately.

“Is she missing her uterus?” he panted for breath when he caught up to the fat man.

“What?” he asked.

“Her lady parts,” he clarified.

The coroner rolled his eyes having understood Levi’s question the first time, “Well yes, but only because she’s missing the entire bottom part of her body.”

He wasn’t lying. Levi had expected some viscera or body parts strung about, but there was only the headless chest like some macabre doll part.

There was a camera flash and Levi really hoped it wasn’t who he thought it was.

“Detective Inspector Pascal, is this related to the Whitechapel killings? Is this the work of Leather Apron? The people want to know why you released such a dangerous criminal back onto our streets!” Nanaba called behind his camera

Released?

He grabbed Mike and pulled him aside.

“What the fuck is this about Reeves being released?” Levi muttered out of ear of the irksome reporter.

“We had to, he had good solid alibis for both of the murders. And he claims you beat him. It’s the kind of press we don’t need. I made a call.”

“That is not your call to make,” Levi snarled. “What did Erwin say about it?”

“I don’t know,” Mike said, a dark cloud passing over his usually stoic face. “I couldn’t find him. No one can find him. He’s missing. Again.”

Levi toed at the ground before asking, “Did you tell Dawk?”

“Fuck no.”

“Good. Good.”

“We can’t keep covering for him,” Mike sighed and Levi knew it was true but it still felt like a betrayal.

“I need to get my—“ he didn’t really have a word for what Eren was. Levi had “his boys” and “his doctor” but what was Eren? “My…Jaeger, down here to look at the scene.”

Mike nodded to a cab pulling up to the corner.

“I had a cab sent around when I got the news.”

“Oh. How very thoughtful of you.” _But I’m still not going to turn on Erwin._

The Eren that emerged from the cab was not the same Eren he’d left on the sofa this morning. Washed and dressed impeccably with a collared shirt and a gentleman’s bowler hat, he looked the part of consultant as he strode across the street and into the frenzy.

Seeing Levi’s expression at his change of appearance, Eren flushed a little.

“The wife,” he said by way of explanation. “And I borrowed some of Armin’s clothes.”

“That’s good. I can’t have a thug working for me.” Levi nodded at Mrs. Jaeger’s wisdom.

“Or they might catch on that you’re one too,” Eren said out of the corner of his mouth.

Levi fussed with his cravat and only gave Eren a superior expression.

“This feels a lot different than the scene we saw yesterday,” Eren surmised, his brows contracting a little. “Dr. Hange said the murder weapon was a long thin blade, the bones here look like they were hacked. What did the coroner say?”

“That he’s not willing to make any guess until the inquest. Fucking useless. I have them trolling the river for a possible weapon anyway.”

“Are all of her…parts in there?” Eren asked, picking up the sheet and looking underneath.

“Well, no, she’s missing her uterus…and her legs and her arms and her head.”

“So we have no way of knowing if it’s intentional,” Eren sighed, putting a hand to his head.

“How’s your noggin?” Levi asked. “You got brained pretty hard last night.”

“It’s fine. I heal fast. I would have healed faster if someone hadn’t kept waking me up every half hour.”

“It was the doctor’s orders. I’d just as soon let you die.”

“As you say, Florence Nightingale,” Eren gave a shit eating grin. “You know what strikes me as strange? Where’s the blood?”

“Looks like she was bled out elsewhere and then just deposited here. You know this whole scene feels familiar. It’s clean. Neat. Not like that scene in the alley.”

Eren agreed.

“I’ve got this terrible sense of déjà vu but I can’t place it,” Levi said.

While Levi continued to scratch at that itch of a memory, Eren surveyed the scene. There were no drag marks. Someone could have walked up with the body tucked under their arm and simply dropped it. Sure, it would have been heavy, but a lot less so without the lower half and head. Behind the line, Nanaba was trying to coax an interview from Mike, who had his arms crossed and appeared to not be listening. Dawk was glaring at Levi’s back and Eren tipped his hat in acknowledgement. One of the men who’d bagged Eren last night leaned in and whispered something in Dawk’s ear and his frown deepened. He turned to look across the street and felt a feeling like a punch in his gut as he locked eyes with a woman across the street.

She was wearing an aquamarine dress with black beading and a matching beaded purse hung from her wrist along with a simple fan. Her blonde locks were topped with a black hat, stuck with an expensive hatpin and an ornate blue feather that must have cost a fortune. But it wasn’t her dress that struck Eren, it was the cool disinterested way she viewed the scene. He held her eyes longer than he should have. Gentlemen don’t stare at ladies like that. However it wasn’t her figure that attracted his gaze, it was the look two predators gave each other when they met across the water. The wolf meeting the lion.

She turned and walked away from the scene and Eren would have followed her had Levi not caught his attention.

“They found another body part,” Levi said and they left for the second scene.

“What do you think?” Levi asked, holding the limb in his gloved hand. “Do you think it’s a woman’s arm?”

“I’d say yes, it’s small enough, but it’s hard to tell…”

The left arm of a body was found floating in the water wrapped in the same black fabric and tied with twine, but due to the water saturation the limb was black and bloated.

 “—I heard they found her top at Whitehall,” a uniform was telling his partner. “That must have been quite a party! Just a pair of tits, sounds like the last stag night I were at!” He laughed loudly.

Levi’s eyebrow twitched and Eren tried to distract him

“We should get some hunting dogs,” Eren said suddenly. “Let them get a whiff of the torso and see if they lead us to anymore parts.”

“The hounds won’t get much of a scent if the rest of her is floating in the Thames,” Levi said as he handed the limb to be bagged.

The uniform made an obscene gesture, pretending to bury his face in a woman’s bosom.

“You!” Levi pointed, his steely grey eyes flashing dangerously. “What’s your name?”

“Hitch, sir,” the officer said with a bit of smirk. That debauched smile only served to ire Levi further.

“Right, well Officer Hitch, show some fucking respect for the poor woman.”

“With all respect, sir, who the fuck cares that someone is cutting up tarts like dinner meat?”

Levi turned to look at Eren with a flat, long suffering expression, the same expression he’d given before kicking the shit out of Daz and his crew. Eren nodded understandingly. Levi looked up at Mike, who merely shrugged. Reaching up he grabbed the back of Hitch’s head and seized a handful of hair and dragged him to the river’s edge.

“What?” Hitch shouted, which was a terrible idea because he should have kept his mouth shut as Levi forced his head underwater.

Gurgling and kicking Levi pulled Hitch up for one breath before shoving him back under the black water. Hitch’s partner ran forward to pull Levi off but Levi pushed him away.

“That’s enough!” Dawk shouted.

Levi ignored him. The man under his hand was clawing at Levi’s glove and Levi held Dawk’s gaze as long as possible.

“Levi,” Eren cautioned, pulling at his shoulder warningly.

Levi sighed and released the idiot.

“You could have killed me!” Hitch sputtered, coughing up water.

“What a loss for mankind that would have been.” Shaking water off his glove he turned to Mike. “I swear they get more disrespectful every year.”

“The fuck was that?” Dawk shouted, storming up to them.

“Discipline,” Levi shrugged.

“I gave you a direct order and you disobeyed,” Dawk grabbed his arm.

Eren turned away from the two of them, knowing it wasn’t going to get better. As he looked up the embankment he caught sight of a familiar shade of blue.

“You’re not my boss,” Levi reminded Dawk. “Erwin is my boss.”

“I am of higher rank than you and in case you hadn’t noticed Erwin isn’t here. This makes how many times he’s disappeared without a word? When he is gone, I am in charge.”

“If you have to say you’re in charge, then you’re not really in charge, are you?” Levi said bitingly.

Eren began climbing the stairs upwards and when he made it onto the street he saw only the faintest swish of fabric as it turned a corner.

“I know you and Erwin have a history, the big war hero buddies,” Nile sneered. “But if you don’t respect my authority, you will be brought up on insubordination.

“Ooo, big man, trying to look tough in front of the brass. Trying to get another _white feather_ in your cap?” Levi’s lip curled.

“You son of a bitch—“ Nile spat and he would have lunged for Levi but Mike stepped between them.

“This is not the place,” Mike stated quietly. “Another woman has been killed and you two are fighting over the chain of command.”

What had Eren called him last night? Levi tried to remember. _Petty_. He didn’t want to be petty.

“You’re right. My apologies.” Levi offered his wet glove for Dawk to shake and he took it begrudgingly. “Anyhow, I think I figured out my déjà vu, Eren, so we’re going to take a trip to—where’s Jaeger?”

“I saw him head up to the street, sir,” a uniform informed them.

“He just took off?” That doesn’t sound like Jaeger. “He wouldn’t leave unless he—“ Levi looked sharply at Mike.

Unless he caught the scent of a trail.

<*>

The woman in blue wandered the street, pausing and looking in the shop windows. She didn’t seem to have a plan, she just walked around aimlessly. Maybe she was on to him? Eren shadowed her at a distance. Finally, as the crowds of people walking by thinned, she cast a furtive glance around and unlocked a gate leading to an alley.

Eren made it across the street to grasp the gate before it could slam shut. He slipped into the dark alley and froze. She was gone. The whole alleyway was windowless but there were several steel doors any of which she could have disappeared into. There was a slight click and the gate behind him opened and closed. Eren tilted his hat low over his eyes and put his hands deep in his pocket. Shit. He should have begged Levi for a piece. The man behind him was wide enough to cast a long shadow over Eren and he quickened his pace. Judging by his gait, he was heavy and muscular and not someone Eren wanted to get into a scrape with.

The door to Eren’s right burst open suddenly and he jumped.

“Oh, sorry there, sir, didn’t mean to startle yeh,” the tall man in the doorway tipped his hat.

Eren felt slightly embarrassed.

“No, it’s my fault, I’m just a little jumpy today,” Eren laughed.

“That’s him,” a woman’s voice said from behind the tall man. “Reiner.”

The man behind him grabbed and pinned Eren’s arms behind his back knocking his hat off in the process and the tall one grabbed his kicking legs and together they dragged him inside.

“Bert, string him up,” the woman ordered.

“Are you sure? Berik wouldn’t want us attracting cops to the job—“

“Does he look like a cop to you?” she cut him off.

Eren found his hands bound and a rope around his neck as he was forced on a tall shaky stool. The woman gave a few tugs to demonstrate the rope was taut. His feet were on the very tips of his toes, struggling to keep balance.

“Who do you work for?” she asked, her eyes devoid of any emotion.

“Fuck you,” Eren spat.

“Reiner,” she nodded and the muscled man hit him hard in the gut.

Eren felt all the air leave his body and when he sagged from the blow, felt the knot around his neck tighten. Spots danced and he remembered to push up on his toes. The tightness lessened slightly.

“Who do you work for?”

“Lieutenant Pascal,” Eren said.

“Is he one of Kaney’s crew?” she asked.

“Who the fuck is Kaney?” Eren was confused.

She exchanged a look with her compatriots.

“Where is the Historia?”

“The Historia?” Eren had no idea what she was talking about.

“He knows nothing,” she concluded. “Kill him.”

“Wait! I know someone who might know something—“ Eren was stalling for time. He had no plan here and no one knew where he was. “I know a guy who uh—he might know where to find this Historia thing you lost.”

The woman looked at him impatiently, “Reiner.”

Reiner reached for the rope and pulled on it hard. The spots were back and he struggled to find a foothold on the stool before everything blacked out.

“I don’t like games. Either tell me the name or I kill you right now.”

Eren gagged.

“He can’t give a name, if he can’t breathe,” the woman snapped and Reiner loosened the knot.

Eren gasped for air even though each one burned his lungs.

“His name…his name is…” Eren tried to think of the name of a person he hated. Kirstein came to mind but even Eren couldn’t set this pack on him. “Reeves,” he whispered.

“What?” the woman asked. “Bert what did he say?”

Bert leaned in and Eren snapped back to life, wrapping his legs around the tall man in a wrestler’s grapple.

“Take this thing off my neck or I’ll snap his,” Eren threatened.

“If you snap his neck, he falls and you choke to death,” she informed him, ignoring Bert’s purple face.

“Annie,” Bert gasped. “Please!”

“Annie?” Why was that familiar? “Light Annie?”

At her expression, he knew he’d guessed correctly but his minor victory was short lived as Reiner delivered two hard knocks to his kidney. Eren spat blood and released Bert, his feet dancing in thin air before the stool was replaced.

“What was the name?” Annie asked coolly.

“Reeves,” Eren told her. “But only I can talk to him—“

“You’re a liar. And a terrible one at that,” Annie sneered.

“Jaeger!” Levi shouted.

His three attackers tensed as Levi trained his gun on them. He aimed at Bert, then Reiner, before settling his sights directly on Annie.

“You three are under arrest,” Levi informed them, his face flat, giving nothing away. “The building is surrounded, I suggest you surrender.”

Annie snorted. “You’re bluffing. You ran after your little protégé and forgot to bring backup.”

“Sound off!” Levi shouted.

“Ready one, Lieutenant! The boys are ready to go when you give the say-so!” shouted Mike’s voice.

“Ready two, s-sir!” shouted Nanaba, not quite sure what he was doing there.

“Look at my face and tell me I’m bluffing,” Levi instructed from behind his weapon.

Annie gave him a long appraising look.

“You any good with that gun?” she asked, trying to see how many of them could flee before Levi could get a shot off.

“I’m the best,” he stated simply and Annie knew he definitely wasn’t bluffing about that.

“Well, then Lieutenant,” she said quietly. “You have a choice then.”

“Yea? And what choice is that?” Levi asked.

She kicked the stool out from under Eren.

“Shit!” Levi shouted and he ran forward to grab the Eren’s kicking legs and hold them up, watching angrily as Annie and her boys took off out the window. “Mike! I can’t hold him up any higher!” Curse his height!

Mike began sawing at the rope at its other end and when he got mostly through the remaining fibers snapped under the strain and Eren fell on top of Levi.

“Breathe you dumbass!” Levi ordered pulling the rope off of his neck.

Eren lay on top of him like a heavy sack of potatoes, gasping, water leaking from his eyes and foam on his lips.

“You’re good, kid. You’re good, I got you,” Levi reassured him, patting him on the back awkwardly. “You’re good.”

When Eren’s vision finally cleared, he sat up and all of the blood rushed to his head and he rolled over, his head next to Levi’s.

“Don’t do something that stupid again,” Levi panted heavily.

Eren shook his head, still unable to speak.

“And don’t tell the wife, the way she looks at me…she looks like she’s already boiling flypaper.” Levi ran a shaky hand through his mussed hair.

Eren gave a hoarse chuckle.

“At least we,” Oh god, his voice sounded like a frog’s, “got ‘em.”

“We didn’t get jack-shit,” Levi corrected.

“But…backup?”

“I was bluffing. I only had Mike and the stupid reporter followed us. I didn’t think you could get into so much trouble on your own. Fuck, kid, what were you thinking? Don’t do that again, you hear me?”

“I was trying to be useful!”

“Well you’re not useful if you’re dead. Catching the bad guy means absolutely nothing if you don’t come home at the end of the day. That’s what police work is really about—coming home knowing you made a small difference.”

“Small gardens?” Eren hummed, closing his eyes.

“Yeah idiot.” _Doesn’t seem so petty now, does it brat?_

“How did you even find me?” Eren asked as they stepped out into the sunlight. Mike tossed him his bowler hat that had been left in the alley. “Oh.”

“That and while you were playing at spy, you weren’t exactly subtle. People in this city are on alert and a man obviously stalking a young woman is something they take notice of.”

Eren flushed with embarrassment.

“Detectives!” Nanaba ran up excitedly. “I may have gotten a shot!”

“Really?” Levi asked.

“There’s no way to know for sure, I’ll have to develop the film!” Nanaba sounded excited but optimistic.

Eren gave Mike a short description of his attackers and their names.

“Right, well before you took off I was going to explain to you that I think I know who decapitated and trussed up our Jane Doe.”

“You do?” Eren asked rubbing his neck. “That’s great!” At Levi’s expression, he asked, “That’s not great?”

“We’ll never be able to prove it,” Levi said sourly. “He’s too good for that. Also, I’m fairly sure the only reason we found her was because he wanted me to see it.”

“What? Why?” Eren looked disgusted.

“It’s how he says ‘Hello.’”

They stood outside a butcher shop that Eren had somehow never seen before although he’d walked past this street many times before.

“Before we go in, I just want you to know that there’s some history here, I’m not going to get into it, but just follow my lead, savvy? If possible, don’t speak at all. Words are meaningless with these people, actions are everything.”

Eren nodded cautiously.

Levi pushed open the butcher shop door and a small bell tinkled above them. The shop was impeccably clean, especially for a meat shop, with whitewashed walls and smooth countertops. It felt more like a new hospital than a butcher shop.

“Ah, Levi,” the man behind the counter said, not even bothering to look. “I was wondering if you got my message. Took you long enough, getting slow in the head?” He tapped his head with the butt of his meat cleaver. “Need to keep your mind sharp. Rolling with these coppers has made you dull.”

He continued chopping, cutting up sections of what looked like a pork leg.

“This isn’t like when I was a kid, Kaney. I don’t come running when you snap your fingers.”

“And yet you’re here. What does that tell you?” this last question was directed at Eren as Kaney turned around to face them.

Eren said nothing, following Levi’s advice.

“You look good, Levi. Still short though. I see your name in the paper from time to time. You got a madman out there killing tarts.”

“You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that would you?” Levi asked sharply.

“No, but I’ll put the word out.” Kaney lit a burner with a match and placed a skillet lined with bacon grease on the stovetop.

“Who was the girl I found today then?” Levi asked casually.

“Just someone who didn’t understand the importance of family,” Kaney said, scooping up the perfect cubes of meat he’d carved and dropping them into the pan. “You remember what I told you Levi? About family? You need people.”

“I have people.”

“You still running with that small time group? What they call that? A wrench and palm set.”

Levi didn’t answer, keeping his well-trained face immobile.

“Ohhh, that’s right. You all got big britches, tried to rob the wrong house and the wrench got his skull blown off and the filly she got gutted from what I heard. So what people do you have, Levi? Yer copper pals? What did I teach you? You need people. Because when yer copper friends turn on you—and they will turn on you, they always turn on your kind—all you got is family. Your people; your family. Didn’t I always take care of you?”

Levi snorted.

“I was a father to you Levi. After yer mother died, who clothed you, eh? Who fed you?” Kaney looked at Eren. “You should have seen him as a child, thin, pretty face.” Then to Levi, “A lot of men would have turned you out as a boywhore, but not me, I took care of you, trained you up, taught you how to fight.”

“No, you taught me when to go down in a round so you could pocket the earnings.”

“A man without family is vulnerable, Levi,” Kaney said, stirring the meat in the pan idly.

“Well you called me here and I showed. Now either tell me what you want or I’m gone.”

Levi waited for a few seconds and when Kaney didn’t say anything, he sighed and grabbed Eren’s arm to leave.

“I’m look for something,” Kaney said as Levi’s hand went to the door. “A valuable something. One of my competitors has his crew out looking for the same thing and I’d like to find it before they do.”

“Berik’s crew,” Eren blurted out without thinking. “You’re looking for the Historia.”

Kaney turned to give him a sharp look and Levi fixed him with a “shut it, you stupid brat” look.

“We met them earlier,” Levi’s thin mouth gave nothing away.

Kaney grunted. “Historia’s a person, not a thing. She’s a stupid French whore who stole what’s mine. All I ask is that if you come across her or it, you bring it to me.”

“What is it?” Levi asked.

“You’ll know it when you see it,” Kaney waved his knife around.

“We’re not interested,” Levi informed Kaney. “You and Berik can fight over your whore, just keep the people of this city out of it.

Kaney wrapped a towel around the skillet’s handle and placed a hot pad underneath it.

“Want a bite?” he asked Levi, whose lip curled. “Oh that’s right, I forgot you don’t eat pork. You know I worry about you, Levi. If you’re not with Berik, his people are going to assume you’re with me, and if you’re not with me, I’m going to assume you’re with Berik. It’s not wise to be on your own.”

“He’s not on his own,” Eren snapped angrily. “He got people.”

Kaney looked amused. “Like you?”

Eren took a piece of meat from the pan and popped it in his mouth, much to Kaney and Levi’s surprise.

“Yea, like me.” He chewed and swallowed. “Your meat is gamey, old man.”

He made an about-face and they left the shop. They walked in silence for a while, Levi looking sideways at Eren. When Eren finally caught his eye, he sighed.

“What? Look, I know you said not to talk, but I don’t like how he thinks he has this hold over you. I also don’t like how everyone pokes at you for being Jewish. It’s becoming an old joke quick. I finally get what you mean by not letting people get a rise out of you because if I had to deal with what you deal with every single day, I’d go crazy.”

“I can’t believe you actually ate it,” Levi said finally.

“Of course I ate it. He was only doing that to fuck with you, so I ate it!”

Levi stared at him aghast, “Eren, that wasn’t pork.”

“Then what was it?” At Levi’s expression Eren’s face fell. “What was it? Oh god, was it people? Fuck! Did I just eat people, Levi? Oh I’m going to be sick.” He leaned over a railing and retched. “I can’t do it, I need to stick my fingers—hurk.”

“How could you not know it was people? She was missing most of her limbs! That’s like the oldest trick in the book! A woman kills and cooks her husband and when the police come to visit she serves it to them and they say ‘This is great, what is it?’ and she says ‘Pork.’ How could you not know that?”

“It’s not working. Levi stick your fingers in my mouth so I can vomit.”

“No, I’m not doing that. That’s disgusting. You’re disgusting.”

“Please?”

“ _Crasseux_. No.”

“It wasn’t really people was it?”

“It was implied people. Even if it wasn’t, he didn’t think you’d call his bluff.” Levi began laughing really hard. “Oh you should have seen his face! It was perfect.”

“Lieutenant!” Eren whined.

“You shitty brat. I’m going to be telling that one for years.” He wiped the tears from his eyes. “He couldn’t tell if you were a moron or a madman.”

“I just made us look completely stupid,” Eren said morosely.

“No, you did good kid. Action is everything, remember? And you just told him that you’re a big ole bucket of crazy not to be fucked with.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you like, please leave comments and kudos! [And now for something completely different!](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1946151/chapters/4206144)


	5. Pretty Women

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Levi and Eren head to a fancy brothel owned and operated by Madam Ymir, a shrewd woman who fills her pleasure house with secrets. Eren finds himself robbed of an artifact of great importance by a bright eyed lady of the night with an ugly side to her pretty face. Oluo locates Erwin. Mrs. Jaeger's dinner party is a success, albeit with a few snags. Try the duck. It's lovely.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mary Ann Nichols, Annie Chapman, Elizabeth Stride, Catherine Eddowes, and Mary Kelly. These are the "canonical five" of the Jack the Ripper killings. There has been a lot of speculation over the years about Jack the Ripper (the most recent being DNA evidence proving Aaron Kosminski as the killer, which some claim is inconclusive). Jack the Ripper lore is steeped in anti-semitism and full of royal conspiracies. The shadowed figure of Jack the Ripper is often talked about, revered even, while his victims are waved off as prostitutes. I want you to remember those five names above. I want it to burn into your brain. You can have your theories on who killed them: a doctor, a butcher, a raving lunatic, etc, but let's be real here, the real perpetrator is misogyny, plain and simple.
> 
> My tumblr is [perksofbeingawaifu.tumblr.com](http://perksofbeingawaifu.tumblr.com/)
> 
> Tracking tag is #fic: boh
> 
> \--
> 
> I love Ymir and Christa. They're my babes.

_She seem’d, at once, some penanced lady elf,_  
 _Some demon’s mistress, or the demon’s self._  
 _Upon her crest she wore a wannish fire_  
 _Sprinkled with stars, like Ariadne’s tiar:_  
 _Her head was serpent, but ah, bitter-sweet!_  
 _She had a woman’s mouth with all it’s pearls complete:_  
 _And for her eyes: what could such eyes do there_  
 _But weep, and weep, that they were born so fair?  
_ _As Proserpine still weeps for her Sicilian air._

_-Lamia,_ John Keats.

“What’s here?” Eren asked wrinkling his nose.

“We’re still working the Whitechapel murders,” Levi reminded him. “Both of the women were working girls, so I’m starting with largest brothel around. Maybe someone knew them or knew of them or know of a bloke who likes cutting girls.”

“I thought we already found him,” Eren muttered under his breath.

“We found a suspect, just not our suspect. Leather Apron may be a piece of human garbage but he’s not guilty of this crime. That’s how life is, sometimes you think you know all the answers and then life drops you a new slice of shit-pie and you realize you knew never knew anything to begin with.”

“The words that come out of your mouth are pure elegance, you know that?” Eren was still bitter about the maybe-it’s-pork-maybe-it’s-human meat like it was somehow Levi’s fault.

The exterior of the brothel looked surprisingly like a normal suburban townhouse, albeit a large one, but had Eren not known that it was in fact a brothel, he wouldn’t have believed it. On the interior, the foyer was expansive with several plush chairs and sofas. They were escorted to a cushioned seat by a pretty, but modestly dressed woman, who then excused herself to find her employer.

The Madam turned out to be a man, or rather…now that Eren looked closer, it was in fact a woman, dressed in men’s clothing, a flamboyant suit that neither gentleman would be comfortable wearing. Eren was surprised to find she was Indian. His time in India had made such faces and features the norm and so when he saw her it took him a few seconds to recognize her race before a strong sensation of nostalgia fell over him.

“Looking for a good time, gentlemen?” she asked, pressing a fancy cigarette holder to her lips. Eren had seen few of these before in his life, but he was fairly sure hers was made of ivory. “What are you looking for?”

“Ah, my friend here is getting married,” Levi said, suddenly adopting a cocksure voice and leaning back in his seat. “And we want to give him one last sendoff before he takes the plunge.”

It took Eren a moment to realize Levi was talking about him. He tried to look as though that were very much the case.

“Well you’ll be wanting a petite girl,” the Madam winked at Levi. “A petite woman, they say, can make a small man feel like a king, and a large man,” she winked again at Eren, “feel…well, you know. Girls!”

She clapped her hands and a dozen or so women, painted with their bosoms nearly bare, all ran out and stood by their mistress, some pouting, some blowing kisses, and some looking quite coy despite their near undress. Eren’s mouth fell open and stayed that way. A pretty blonde met his eyes, looking shyly at her feet, which were bare and then back up and him. She flushed and looked away. Eren knew it had to be an act, but he still couldn’t stop staring at her.

“You know they’re coppers, donchya?” a voice said from above them. Her legs sticking through the bars of the banisters, she swung them back and forth looking down on them. “Hiya coppers!” she waved.

“Potato girl,” Eren growled warningly.

“Sasha,” Levi tipped his hat.

The girls all gathered their skirts and fled into the many rooms of the house, except for the pretty blonde whom the Madam caught by the arm.

“Now Sasha, don’t be rude,” the Madam beamed. “Of course they’re coppers.” Her face dropped, her mouth clenching her cigarette holder in her yellow teeth and Eren caught the ugly side of their host.

“But Ms. Ymir—“

“Thank you, Sasha!” she cut her off.

“Pickpockets part of your employ now?” Levi asked, quirking an eyebrow.

“She has her uses. But I’m a practical woman, Officer--?”

“Lieutenant Pascal.”

“Lieutenant Pascal. I know better than to feed a stray.”

“He’s not a copper though,” Levi indicated Eren.

“Christa, why don’t you entertain our guest,” Madam Ymir assessed accurately and the girl pulled Eren to his feet. “The Lieutenant and I need to have a talk.”

Levi watched a bewildered Eren follow the pretty woman to a room. Hopefully the brat would keep some of his senses and remember to ask questions about the murder victims. Judging by that dopey look on his face, Levi’s chances weren’t too great.

“This isn’t a bust. You’re not vice,” Madam Ymir asserted, dragging her fingers along her tie. “What do you want?”

“You know,” said Levi looking around. “I grew up in a place like this. Not as nice mind you, but I almost miss it.”

“Oh, so you’re family,” Madam Ymir nodded knowingly. “How fitting, you’re a son and I’m a mother.”

Levi fished around in his breast pocket and pulled out a few photos.

“Any of these your girls?”

Ymir squinted at the gory pictures, taking a drag of her cigarette.

“These girls are older, likely only pros when they need the cash. My girls are young and clean. By the looks of it your girls had a hard life.”

“That’s about what I thought,” Levi sighed.

“I heard about these in the paper, you know,” Ymir said. “They said you caught the guy.”

“They were wrong. The man we caught was released this morning.”

“How disappointing.”

Levi caught the nervous way her lips curled around her cigarette holder and he knew she was frightened.

“There’s another thing.” Levi hadn’t wanted to bring this up, not when there were more pressing issues at hand, but still the woman’s torso lingered in his mind. “There’s two separate gangs—deadly gangs—looking for a prostitute from France named Historia. You have any like that?”

“Nope, can’t say that I do. I can ask the girls though.”

“Thanks, that would be very helpful. Now, onto business.” He pulled out a box of cigarettes and slid them across the small table towards Ymir.

“What’s this?”

“A little side business I’ve got going on. You can sell them to your clients. ‘Want a girl? Want a smoke after a little roll in the hay?’”

“I sell my own,” Ymir said dismissively.

“Ah, but these are good and they’re all hand rolled by a honey-eyed blonde with pillowy breasts.”

Ymir at least appeared intrigued by that description. She fitted one of his cigarettes into her holder and took a drag.

“These are good,” she looked impressed. “But the first ones always are, then the rest of the shipment is bitter and stale.”

“I will personally ensure you a quality product. You can test each delivery to see if it’s up to your standards.”

“Let’s talk price.”

<*>

The blonde named Christa led Eren to a room with a large canopy bed, padding along lightly on her bare feet. Shutting the door gently behind them, she leaned against it, eyes suddenly wanton. Eren’s mouth opened.

“I—uh—was wondering if you’d—“ he began meaning to ask her about the case.

Her mouth was on his before he had time to think, her hands fiddling with his belt.

“Wait—“ he started, but she spun him around so his back was pressed to the door. “I’m married—“

“That’s fine,” she insisted. “I was married once too.”

“Really?” Eren asked. “To who?” He didn’t know why he asked, it wasn’t as if he’d know the man.

“To God!” she extended her arms to the sky.

“Huh?”

“I was a nun. I was stuck in this convent outside Versailles for two whole years. You’re so cute,” she giggled girlishly, kissing him again. “I wish we’d had more pretty boys like you in the convent.”

She yanked at his belt and his pants were around his ankles. He leaned down to grab them, but her hands were down his underthings and she stroked him hard with one quick deft motion. His knees went weak and her other arm went around him as she quickly moved her hand up and down with a practiced expertise.

“Ooo, there’s my naughty boy,” she grinned, biting his lip gently.

He seized her around the waist and pulled her close so that her hand was trapped against him and then he came, spilling out into her palm and over her dress. The whole thing had taken less than a minute, maybe even less than thirty seconds.

“Fuck,” he gasped and she dropped him. He became dead weight sliding down the door and to the floor. “Fuck.”

“Yes honey, that’s how it works,” she nodded, busying herself with a towel.

He leaned over, pressing his nose into the carpet.

“Fuck,” he informed her and she nodded again, very understanding.

“I’ve never—I’m married—“

She looked slightly bored as she tried to open the door he was blocking.

“’M’ sorry,” he murmured, trying to move out of the way, but failing.

Christa instead slid down the door and sat next to him.

“Was that your first time doing anything?” she asked.

“Yes,” he said woodenly, staring off into space.

“And you’re married?”

“Yes,” he repeated in the same frozen position.

“How long?” she asked, hoping he’d move away from the door because this was very tiresome.

“Two years.”

Christa tried to hide her concern and instead put on a coquettish smile.

“You know, sometimes it takes a little something to get started. One thing you could do is—“ she cupped her hand and whispered into his ear even though there was no one around to hear their conversation.

Eren pulled away from her looking shocked and bewildered.

“And…that works?” he asked.

“Oh yes, Madam Ymir loves it. The next time you come by (and pay) I’ll show you how to do it.”

“I will…I will keep that in mind, thank you.”

“No problem, baby.”

Eren fixed his clothes and walked out to meet Levi in the foyer wearing an ashen expression. Levi waited until they were outside before asking, “Did you ask the girl about—“

“I think I may have cheated on my wife.”

Levi gave a short barking laugh. “How? You were in there less than five minutes!”

Eren turned his head, his expression far away and anxious.

“Whoopsie?” was all Levi had to offer.

<*>

“Hey Boss!” Petra greeted cheerily, wiping down glasses. “How was your day?”

Levi barely acknowledged her, which was his usual way of saying “fine.”

“And Eren, doll? How about you?”

“Oh, let’s see. I was nearly strangled to death, I may have eaten people, and I may have accidentally cheated on my wife with an ex-nun.”

Petra sized up his soiled gentleman’s clothes, which weren’t even his, and his somber expression which would have been better suited to Hange’s undertaker husband. She grabbed a shot glass, placed it between her breasts and then filled it with a clear liquor. Grabbing the back of Eren’s neck, she pulled his head down into her bosom.

“Mmf!” he gave a muffled shout before wrapping his lips around the shot glass. He pulled back, letting the burning liquid slide down his throat. Coughing and gasping, his throat burning even more than the beginning of the day, he managed a, “What was that?”

“The Greeks special,” Petra shrugged.

“I want the special,” Gunter whined, approaching them.

“Fuck off. Eren has had an awful day.”

Eren joined them in the back rolling cigarettes again. Oluo was noticeably absent. He was about to ask why when Petra explained that Oluo was still out on a task that Levi had given him.

“When was the last time he checked in?” Levi asked.

“About an hour before you two walked in.”

“He’s not making it easy this time, is he,” Levi grumbled and Petra gave him a worried smile.

“Oluo will find him, don’t worry. Watch, this time he’ll be at his flat and you’ll have worked yourself up for nothing.”

Eren continued rolling the ciggys eavesdropping as much as possible, making a mess of his.

“Tch,” Levi sighed, reaching over Eren’s shoulders and wrapping his fingers around Eren’s. “Like this, dumbass. Don’t spill the tobacco all over the table. Messy.”

“I’m getting better,” Eren protested.

“You’re still slow. Petra cranks out twenty-five for every one you manage and yours aren’t even that tightly rolled. See? It falls apart.”

Eren looked up at him, his head falling back to touch Levi’s chest. Levi tilted his chin to look at the ugly bruise that was forming on his neck.

“That’s still hurt?”

Eren nodded.

“Hurts to talk, to smoke, to drink, to eat, to swallow, to breath.”

“And yet he still keeps talking,” Levi smacked the side of his head lightly.

“My wife is going to kill me,” Eren sighed. “I don’t know how to explain to her what happened.”

“What did happen?” Levi asked and the rest of the group looked just as curious.

“I don’t even know! One minute she had her hands down my pants and then the next—it all happened so fast!”

“Outside your under-whatsits or inside?” asked Erd.

“Yes, there’s a crucial difference,” Gunter agreed.

“What’s the difference?” Eren asked.

“Ignore them, there’s no difference,” Petra rolled her eyes.

“One is sortof accidental, right? Like, oops, the canon fired a shot. The other is more deliberate, like you don’t want her father to walk in before you finish,” Erd explained.

“Oh, god, it was under,” Eren moaned.

Levi snorted.

“This is all your fault, you know,” Eren accused.

“ _Excusez-moi?_ I wasn’t the one who stuffed my hands down your pants to give you the ole rub and tug. I was busy doing actual police work.”

“So selling your ciggys to a Madam counts as police work, now?”

“You got us another buyer?” Petra looked up. “Who?”

“Madam Ymir.”

“Ooo, the one with the—“ Petra mimed men’s clothes. “That’s a fancy joint. Or so I heard. You won’t catch me in one of those places, my father already thinks I’m a sinner for not getting married, if he heard word I’d been seen in a brothel…” She shuddered at the thought.

“I’ve never been in, too broke,” Gunter sighed. “I heard they got all kinds of girls and the whole place smells like some exotic land. Paintings of elephants and the Kama Sutra.”

“It is very…plush,” Eren agreed. “But I won’t be going anywhere near there or any other type of establishment. I love my wife.”

“Lots of men love their wives and have ladies on the side,” Gunter said, before swiping his tongue across the paper.

“I’m with Eren, here,” Erd said. “When you got a good girl waiting for you at home, you don’t want any other. She’s the first thing you want to see in the morning and the last thing you want to see at night.”

“Sure, you do now,” Gunter said. “But what about when those sweet little rosebud titties start sagging and she gets lines on her face and she nags you all the time about making more money?”

“Imagine any poor woman having to wake up to your craggy face and saggy balls,” Petra pointed out.

“Boss, back me up here,” Gunter turned to Levi.

“I don’t like cheaters,” Levi broke his rule and lit up another cigarette, testing the second batch. “I don’t trust them. If you cheat on your woman, how do I know you’re not gonna cheat me out of my cut? Mistresses are expensive. Where I’m from, it was normal for a man to have a lady on the side—as long as he came home to his wife. Everyone says it’s not hurting anyone and is actually beneficial for the marriage, but I call bullshit. Fucking is dirty and filthy, you can get all kinds of diseases and pass it on to your wife. Trust me, I was in the service and the stuff you could get from the pros will rot your cock off. That aside, I think you can cheat on your partner with more than your body. You can cheat on them with your faith, I knew a guy he went to service every Sunday with his wife and family and in private he told me he didn’t believe a word of it. You can cheat on them with booze. With drugs,” Levi sounded morose as he pondered the cigarette in front of him. “Fuck you can cheat on someone with this cigarette.” He exhaled. “But I’m not really a jealous person. I don’t want much. I don’t want someone who depends on me and only me, and I don’t want to depend solely on another person. Because if you think your whole happiness depends on that one person then you’re fucked. I can only trust me.”

_You need people, Levi._

“As long as you’re not hurting them and they’re not hurting you, all is forgiven. So Eren, did you intend to hurt your wife with your accidental handy?”

“No.”

“Then it’s all good. Now, if I were you I’d be more concerned about how the entire event of coitus took less time than it takes to light a match.”

Gunter and Erd laughed appreciatively.

“Don’t be cruel. That’s how it is with young bucks, like Eren here,” Petra nodded sagely. “My first beau, he was in me for two pumps, finished, then rolled over and fell asleep. You were like that too once. I bet it was just the shock of the whole thing. I mean, how long does it usually take for you and your wife?”

Eren stood up suddenly, knocking a few ciggys on the ground. “I’m getting another round,” he said loudly, “Who else wants something?”

He left the room abruptly. Petra gave Levi a concerned look and he shook his head.

“I don’t believe it,” Eren said, reappearing in the curtain without his drink. “That—those bitches—it’s gone!”

“What’s gone?” Levi asked as Eren patted his coat pocket.

“My—uh—something of value to me! She palmed it. Goddamnit!”

“We’ll go back and we’ll get it, it’s no problem.”

“I can’t fucking believe it!” Eren raged.

“We’ll get it, kid. But this better not be a fucking excuse for you to go back and finish with your nun, because I am not waiting outside patiently for you like some butler,” Levi said, slipping his coat on.

Eren fixed him with a very unamused expression.

The same girl in modest dress escorted them inside. Eren pushed past her and raced deep into the pleasure house, Levi running a little to catch up.

“Hold up there—“ Levi instructed.

Eren pushed open a pair of double doors to find the Madam sitting on a couch, with Christa curled up in her lap feeding her mistress cherries.

“You!” Eren pointed, grabbing Christa’s wrist and pulling her up. “Where is it?”

“Take your hands off her!” Madam Ymir jumped up angrily.

“You—shut up! This is between me and her. Where is it?”

“You better call your boy off,” Ymir shouted at Levi. “Before he goes and does something stupid.”

“Where is it?” Eren shouted, pulling at her dress.

“Let go of me!” Christa screamed.

Levi grabbed Eren’s front and kicked his legs out from under him, pinning him into one of the plush sofas.

“She took—“

“You don’t grab a lady,” Levi said warningly, his grey eyes burning.

“Ha! Lady! She stole—“

Levi grabbed his jaw. “Look around you, Eren,” he whispered. “Where do you think you are? These girls are scared shitless because there’s some fucking madman out in the streets gutting their sisters and leaving them to rot.”

Eren’s eyes traveled around to the many dresses and the panicked faces Nthat came with them. There were children—offspring of the women living there—lining the banisters of the stairs, their noses pressed against the bars. Several of the women went to console Christa. Ymir fixed her furs, her dark eyes blazing.

“The last thing these people need is another angry asshole screaming at them. _Comprenez vous?”_

Eren nodded, feeling very guilty.

Levi turned to Ymir, “Is it your custom to roll your clients?”

“Depends,” she said silkily, still fixing Eren with a death stare.

“Well your girl there has sticky fingers.”

“In more ways than one,” Christa sneered.

“Christa?” Ymir asked, holding her hand out.

“I don’t have it!” Christa insisted. “Maybe he lost it.”

“You stole—“ Eren shouted.

“Christa!” Ymir snapped her fingers impatiently.

“Fine,” she cried, reaching down the front of her dress. “I don’t know why you’re getting so angry, it’s not even worth anything, I checked.”

She chucked the brass key on a string at Eren’s head. He picked it up happily and put it around his neck.

“All this for a key?” Levi asked wanting very much to strangle Eren. “What is it even to?”

“It’s not to anything,” Eren said, polishing off a thumbprint.

“Oh you shitty little—Madam Ymir, my apologies for my idiot here.”

They were escorted out to the foyer.

“Sorry,” Eren muttered to Christa, who clung to her mistress like a child to its doll. “Uh, sorry everyone.”

“He’s banned,” Ymir told Levi, adjusting her fox trim. “And if I catch sight of him again, I’ll cut off his cock.”

“He won’t. But the next guy she steals from won’t be as understanding as this one.”

“Don’t worry, she’ll be punished,” Ymir said slapping the girl’s backside. “Next time you come by, I’ll have someone special picked out just for you. What are you into? Blondes? Redheads?”

“No thanks, not interested.”

“I got some pretty boys too,” she grinned mischievously. “Tall, muscular, they’ll take care of you.”

“Still not interested,” Levi waved her off, shoving Eren out the door.

“Uh huh,” Ymir said, placing her cigarette holder between her teeth.

Pacified now that he had reclaimed his trinket, Eren practically skipped down the street. A cab pulled up and both men froze, Levi reaching for his gun instinctively, but relaxed when he saw Oluo driving.

“I stopped by The Greeks and Petra said you were this way. I found him!” Oluo said tiredly.

“Oh thank God,” Levi hopped in the back, Eren climbing in after him.

“Who?” he asked.

“Erwin,” Levi said, his leg bouncing up and down in the cab in anticipation.

Oluo pulled up to a shady looking establishment by the docks. Levi pushed open the doors and jumped over the counter and into the back room, the Chinese owner only watched him, not keen to be involved. The backroom was pitch black and Eren, having trouble adjusting to the light, tripped over someone lying flat on their back.

“Fucking filthy,” Levi spat. “ _Crasseux_. Where are you, you asshole?”

Eren accidentally stepped on someone’s hand and they only grunted.

“Where are we?” Eren asked, trying to find Levi’s small shape in the dim light.

“There you are!” Levi said. “Help me get him up. He’s so heavy.”

Eren hooked his arms under Erwin’s armpit and together they dragged him from the foul smelling room.

“Ugh, he’s pissed himself again. Goddamnit Erwin. Here, shove him in the back.”

Stretched across one of the seats, Eren found it a little crowded (not to mention foul smelling) and opted instead to ride up with Oluo.

“What was that place?” Eren asked the coach driver. “And what was Captain Smith doing there?”

Oluo looked at him sideways, “An opium den. The Captain is a pipe fiend.”

Eren looked at him in disbelief. That couldn’t be true. The smartly dressed gentleman that had pulled him out of jail didn’t match up with his mental image of an opium addict.

“That’s not—that can’t be right. Lieutenant wouldn’t associate with someone like that!”

They stopped at an unfamiliar building and together Eren and Levi dragged Erwin inside and up the stairs.

“I got him,” Levi said. “You can wait with Oluo while I clean him up.

Eren didn’t really want to leave the Lieutenant, but he obediently shuffled down the stairs. He didn’t want to intrude. Between low curses in French and the running water, Levi administered to his friend. Eren busied himself being nosy around Captain Smith’s flat. He had a surprising amount of books. Most weren’t even shelved, just stacked in tall dusty piles that Eren was sure drove Levi crazy. He flipped through a couple of the pages before setting it back in place. There were a few framed photos lining the fireplace mantle. One of Erwin in uniform dress, back when he had both of his arms. He was very handsome. Still was, Eren thought, his gut churning as he listened to Levi upstairs. He was singing a folk song in Yiddish in a low voice. Eren frowned, flopping down into Erwin’s dusty sofa.

He spied a photo album half under a chair and he pulled it out. More photos of Erwin in his dress uniform. A photo of Erwin’s parents. A photo of a pretty girl who might have been his sweetheart. Photos of his army buddies. Eren flipped through them bored and then flung it aside. As he did, a bunch of photos that had been tucked away in a pocket rather than tacked down spun out onto the carpet.

He hurried to pick them up when he realized he recognized the subject. There was Levi in uniform. Eren allowed himself a small grin. He flipped through the rest. Some were photo plates, but most were prints. One was of a younger Levi looking out the window and Eren’s stomach gave a jolt when he realized the Lieutenant was shirtless. There were more like that, many of him stretched out on a bed, completely nude, smoking a cigarette and reading a book, either he was unaware of the photo being taken or he didn’t care. There was one of Levi giving the camera a dirty glare and making an obscene gesture with his fingers. Eren laughed at that one. Eren ran his thumb over the photo of Levi’s naked torso, starting with his pointed chin and running down his Adam’s apple to the dark thatch of hair on his chest, over his navel and down the dark trail that led between his legs. He smiled, holding the photo like he had the key earlier.

But these were Erwin’s photos, he realized, his smile fading. Why did Erwin have them? And he had hidden them, albeit not very well. He listened to Levi humming in his low quiet voice and suddenly Eren felt very stupid. He had thought if he proved himself to Levi, Levi would accept him, embrace him, call him an equal. Looking at the photos in his hands, his vision blurred and he realized that would never happen. Especially if he kept fucking up like he had earlier. The tears stung his face and he found himself furious that he was even thinking of crying. Crying like this would accomplish nothing. It was just the exhaustion of the day getting to him. He stuffed the photos back into their hiding spot, keeping a few of his favorites and tucking them away into his breast pocket.

He heard Levi on the stairs and he flopped back onto the sofa, trying to look casual and hoping he didn’t notice the cloud of dust swirling in the air.

“Ugh, he needs to hire a maid to clean this place,” Levi groaned, tidying a precarious stack of books. He would have to save the ink bottles for later. The red ink bottle had a small puddle drying around the base and Levi’s lip curled.

He sat down heavily next to Eren, coughing at the dust.

“I need to know that what you saw you’re not going to—“

“I won’t,” Eren insisted.

Levi examined Eren’s face and Eren tried very hard to look like he didn’t have a stack of nude photos of Levi in his pocket. He gave a small smile that was meant to be comforting.

“He didn’t used to be like this, you know,” Levi explained quickly

“That’s fine, you don’t need to—“

“He has this, ah, they call it a phantom pain. The arm is gone, but the mind doesn’t know it yet so it hurts. It itches and aches and there’s nothing he can do about it so he dopes himself up for just a chance at relief.” The lines under Levi’s tired eyes appeared darker and more entrenched than Eren remembered. He looked old and tired. “I keep telling him it’s dangerous but he doesn’t listen to me.”

“I’m sorry,” Eren didn’t know what else to say.

“It’s my fault,” Levi confessed.

“What? No it’s not.” Eren knew very few things but he knew that wasn’t the case.

“It is. During the charge, I was propped up against this rock giving cover fire, and Erwin’s horse went down. The enemy was on top of him and they were rolling around kicking up dust and I didn’t have a clear shot. He shouted for me to fire. I shouldn’t have, I didn’t have a good shot, but he ordered it. Fuck, there was a time I would have done anything he said. I would have followed that man anywhere.”

“What happened?” Eren asked.

“I took the shot. The bullet went right through the neck of the Zulu and lodged itself in Erwin’s arm. It turned gangrenous and I was there holding his other hand when they made the decision to saw it off. One shot, it’s always that one shot!”

“You saved his life,” Eren pointed out.

“Yes, and now he suffers every day for it.”

“Well if you ask me,” Eren said crossing his arms, knowing full well Levi hadn’t asked him. “You gave him back his life and he squanders it.”

“He’s not a bad man,” Levi explained, feeling the need to defend his old friend. “He’s just in pain.”

He sighed and Eren considered for a moment placing his hand on Levi’s knee, but his body was frozen in place and the moment passed.

“We should get you home.”

“What about the ciggys?”

“They have it covered and you nearly died today. Sleep in tomorrow, I’ll see you for dinner.”

“Dinner?”

“Your wife didn’t tell you she invited me?” Levi asked. “I assumed she had. I won’t come if that’s—“

“No that sounds great,” Eren looked pleased.

Levi felt the knot in his stomach that was caused by Erwin’s situation lessen slightly.

<*>

Eren opened the door, took one look at Levi and burst into laughter.

“What are you wearing?” he managed in between peals of laughter.

“A suit. This is what gentlemen wear when they go to dinner parties,” Levi snapped feeling very self-conscious. He didn’t like the monkey suit and he’d slicked back his hair. Still he hadn’t thought he was too dressed. And wasn’t Eren wearing a similar suit?

“Lieutenant Pascal, welcome,” Mrs. Jaeger kissed him on both cheeks and Levi caught a hint of her perfume. Subtle, but inviting. “You look very handsome. Ignore my husband.”

Linking his arm with hers she steered him to the dining room. Dr. Arlert was setting plates and Eren helped him.

“We’re a small group so I’m afraid it’s all hands on deck,” Armin said, smiling as he placed a plate in front of Levi.

Levi went to help but Mrs. Jaeger set him in a chair.

“No, you’re company, please,” she insisted.

Eren was staring at two separate forks, trying to discern which went where. He looked at Levi for instruction but Levi felt his cheeks flush as he realized he had absolutely no idea.

“Where did you even get these?” Eren called to his wife through the kitchen doors.

Mrs. Jaeger didn’t answer back. She was not one to shout through the kitchen. With two towels holding a steaming pan, she placed it on a trivet.

“It’s your mother’s silver,” she informed him, taking the forks from his hands and setting them herself.

“I didn’t know she had any silverware,” Eren looked surprised, then gloomy. “I’m surprised he didn’t sell it.”

“He didn’t know about it. It’s rude to talk about one’s possessions.”

She brought out the duck and all conversation was halted. The skin was dark and crispy but the meat melted off the bone. Mrs. Jaeger had paired it with a spiced orange chutney and when Levi took his first bite he thought he must have left his body and was dancing on the ceiling. Armin and Eren chatted and Levi supposed he should make conversation, but he was too busy chewing with his eyes closed. He pulled every last bit of meat off the bones with his knife and fork. Had he not been in polite company and were he not wearing his nicest suit, he would have picked up the bones and cracked them open to get at the marrow. He stared at the tidy pile of stripped bones on his plate mournfully.

“ _Délicieux_ ,” Levi murmured.

“I’m flattered, Lieutenant Pascal,” Mrs. Jaeger said as she spooned out dessert. “I’m sure you’ve had better from your home country. Did you ever chance to dine at the _Tour d’Argent_? They are very famous for their duck dish.”

“No, I left when I was fairly young,” he shrugged, taking a bite of the brandied plums she’d prepared. _Délicieux._ “And I don’t go to restaurants often. Not on a detective’s salary. You can never tell what goes on in their kitchens. Filthy. Rat holes with fancy linens.”

He looked up to see Armin’s pained expression and he felt a flush that he hoped they associated with the brandied plums and not embarrassment. Eren was grinning at him with tongue between his teeth. Shithead. This was the difference between Levi and Eren, Levi realized hollowly. Eren may have been poor but he was raised as a gentleman. True, there were a few obvious gaps in his education, but Eren was born into a world Levi barely understood. Eren was a gentleman slumming it, pretending to be a thug in The Greeks at night and Levi was a thug who had dragged himself out of poverty by his teeth wearing a monkey suit attempting to make nice with people who couldn’t comprehend his world. Fuck it, Eren hadn’t even known he had real silver cutlery! Levi knew if he had such treasures, he would polish them nightly and lock them away safely. No matter how far Levi came in the world there would always be men like Eren who were simply born into the life.

“What’s so fancy about the duck at _Tour d’Argent_?” Eren asked. His pronunciation was atrocious.

“The preparation. It is considered the height of cuisine in France. First the chef strangles the duck, slowly, gently, to retain all of the blood,” Mrs. Jaeger explained, her lips slightly stained from the plums leaving a dark shadow over her otherwise porcelain skin. “Then after the bird is plucked and the breast dressed, the bones and remaining parts are put into a press where they squeeze the marrow juices out. The breast is then prepared in a sauce made of its own blood and marrow.”

“Oh how cruel!” Armin gasped.

“The world is cruel,” Mrs. Jaeger said simply, setting down her napkin. “At least I can assure you this bird was met with a swift end. I snapped its neck myself.”

Mrs. Jaeger, Levi reasoned, was fully capable of slowly strangling a bird to death and then pressing and serving it in its own juices. He could see her doing that to Levi if Eren returned home with one more unexplained bruise on his handsome face. The more Levi learned of Michelle Jaeger, the more she terrified and excited him.

She cleared a few of the plates and when she returned she had a small box in her hands.

“Ha!” Eren laughed. “Where’d you find that?”

“In the same place I always keep it,” she smiled mysteriously.

She twisted a key at the base and the set it in front of Levi. Armin and Eren looked over both grinning. Levi didn’t know what he was supposed to do, but Mrs. Jaeger lifted the lid of the box and a tinkling sound began playing; a merry melody that Levi couldn’t place. The scene was a familiar one, a Japanese garden like the one he’d seen on many tins sold down by Picadilly Circus. Two swans moved in time with the tune, dancing on the painted blue water. Levi leaned closer, but Mrs. Jaeger pulled his shoulder back warningly.

“I would stay back if I were you,” Eren laughed again and Levi wasn’t sure if he was joking.

The back of the music box was a glass mirror and Levi caught Mrs. Jaeger’s eye and the two held that look for several breathtaking seconds. Her hand stayed on his shoulder. The swans continued their mating dance, now moving slower and the tinkling of music played haltingly and Levi found himself pulling away from the box on instinct. He’d never liked Jack in the Pulpit as a child and the anticipation was uncomfortable.

_Plink. Plink-plink. Plink._

The swans stilled.

There was a _click_ and without warning the music box sparked and lit a flame in the center of the pond.

“Shit! _Merde_!” Levi jumped away from it, much to the amusement of his dinner companions. Even Mrs. Jaeger placed her hand over her mouth to hide her laughter.

Eren howled, banging his fist on the table and Armin snorted helplessly into his glass.

“Your face!” Eren gasped.

“Well I’m sorry, I’m not used to music boxes shooting fire in my face,” Levi said grouchily.

Mrs. Jaeger began clearing plates.

“I wish you’d get a girl to do that for you,” Eren scowled. “We can afford one now.”

“Oh? Your stipend went through?” Armin asked politely, looking happy for his friend.

Stipend?

“Oh, yes. Lieutenant arranged for me to receive a salary for my trouble,” Eren lied. He was a terrible liar. The tips of his ears went red whenever he tried to lie.

Armin didn’t seem to notice the lie.

“That was very generous of you!” Armin beamed at Levi.

“Well it’s not something the police want people knowing about so best keep it on the hush-hush. Otherwise every moron who can hold a gun will come to us with their hands out,” Levi lied quickly at Eren’s pleading expression.

“Of course,” Armin understood.

“See?” Eren nudged his wife, looking relieved that Levi had covered for him. “We can afford it. Let me take care of my wife.” He gave her a knee weakening smile and his big green eyes appeared even larger.

“And I love taking care of my husband,” she deferred, kissing his forehead and breaking his grasp. Judging by the rather fierce expression on her face, she didn’t believe Eren’s lie about where the money was coming from. She turned those accusatory dark eyes on Levi before sweeping from the room.

“I can help,” Levi said, starting up. He grabbed a few plates, but was ushered back to his seat by Mrs. Jaeger. “Let me help. I can wash the dishes.”

Avoiding her protestations, he took the plates back to the kitchen.

“It’s the least I can do to thank you for such a lovely meal,” Levi persisted, ignoring the look Mrs. Jaeger was giving her husband.

Eren whispered something in her ear that sounded suspiciously like, “Just give him something to do or he’ll drive all of us crazy.”

Levi took off his coat and rolled up his sleeves and pulled her apron over his clothes.

“I’ll wash, you dry,” Eren sidled up to him by the sink as Mrs. Jaeger gave up and she and Dr. Arlert gathered in the parlor.

Levi snorted.

“Or…you wash and I’ll dry,” Eren took the hint.

It was nice, the two of them standing in the kitchen. Levi scrubbed furiously at the dishes, inspecting each one before setting them aside for Eren to dry.

“You have to dry it completely or it gets spots,” Levi groused and he saw Eren mimicking him out of the corner of his eye.

“Uh oh,” Eren said after finishing counting the knives. “I think one of them fell in the water. Careful, don’t cut yourself.”

He dipped his hands in the water, his arms encircling Levi, pressing his nose into the short hairs on the back of his head. Running his thumbs down the length of Levi’s arms, he intertwined their fingers beneath the soapy water. Levi’s breath hitched. He could hear the others talking in the parlor far away.

Levi made a sound like a question, turning his head slightly but Eren hushed him, his breath hot and warm on Levi’s neck. He gave a sharp tug, pulling Levi’s arms deep into the water, soaking his cuff line and spilling the water in the sink over the apron.

“Goddamnit Eren!” Levi snapped as Eren broke out laughing at his expense for the third time that night.

“I couldn’t help it, you’re so fussy! It was too much temptation!”

“You’re an asshole!”

Mrs. Jaeger appeared in the doorway and took one look at Levi’s soaked front and cuffs. Pursing her lips together, she busied about, grabbing a washer bowl.

“I’m so glad these cuffs are removable these days,” she said removing the soiled items. “And the front appears spared. They make whole removable bibs these days.”

“That’s for gentlemen who spill slop on their fronts like pigs,” Levi complained. He hated that fashion trend.

“Or gentlemen who have terrible pranksters as friends,” she gave a small knowing smile.

They set up in the parlor playing a game. Dr. Arlert had a little glass of sherry in his hands.

“Just the one,” he promised, his blue eyes twinkling. “I know my limit now.”

Eren sat next to Levi and Levi tried to ignore him, still furious over earlier. Eventually he was forced to abandon his anger. Those green eyes were hard to stay mad at. The game was extremely fun and by the end of the night, when Dr. Arlert couldn’t keep his eyes open and Eren was lounging sleepily against Levi, Mrs. Jaeger declared the night had reached its end. His cuffs clean and dry, Levi left the Jaeger home, flagging down a cab to take him to his flat.

He carefully removed his coat and then the cuffs and collar from his shirt, making sure to not crease them so they kept their starched stiffness. When he had finally stripped down and hung everything carefully, he began polishing his shoes, checking for any scuff marks against the lamplight. Then he dusted his spartanly furnished room, fixed the broken blind that was driving him crazy, refilled the lamp oil, before completing his bathroom routine. He wouldn’t be able to sleep if there was a single thing out of place. When his head finally hit the pillow, he could still hear the tinkling call of the music box and the two swans swirled in his head until he finally fell asleep, happy for the first time in a very long time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Duck presses were really popular during the Victorian Era. Gross.


	6. The First Rule of the Basement is You Don't Talk About the Basement

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An unexpected and suspicious death forces Levi to confess to Mike about his real relationship with Kaney the Ripper. Erwin sets about on a plan to rid the city of Kaney and Berik's crew. A lack of breaks in the case frustrates Eren. Doldrums setting in, Levi and Eren's partnership is threatened by flaring tempers.
> 
> “Are you going to hit me, Eren?” Levi asked silkily, his voice so low Eren had to strain to hear it. “Will that make you feel better? Feel like more of a man? If you really need that, maybe you should go home and fuck your wife.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mary Ann Nichols, Annie Chapman, Elizabeth Stride, Catherine Eddowes, and Mary Kelly. These are the "canonical five" of the Jack the Ripper killings. There has been a lot of speculation over the years about Jack the Ripper (the most recent being DNA evidence proving Aaron Kosminski as the killer, which some claim is inconclusive). Jack the Ripper lore is steeped in anti-semitism and full of royal conspiracies. The shadowed figure of Jack the Ripper is often talked about, revered even, while his victims are waved off as prostitutes. I want you to remember those five names above. I want it to burn into your brain. You can have your theories on who killed them: a doctor, a butcher, a raving lunatic, etc, but let's be real here, the real perpetrator is misogyny, plain and simple.
> 
> My tumblr is [perksofbeingawaifu.tumblr.com](http://perksofbeingawaifu.tumblr.com/)
> 
> Tracking tag is #fic: boh

When he woke, Levi set about his morning routine. Waiting for his tea to brew, he fell to his spotless floor and started with a few easy calisthenics. He couldn’t be too noisy or the old bat in the floor below would start pounding on the ceiling with her cane. With the noise from the whistling kettle giving him cover, he slid a chair to the middle of the room. Tapping carefully, he loosened the ceiling panel and felt around until he found what he was looking for—a ledger of his little side business’s finances. He made a few notes, mostly trying to figure out how much he could afford to funnel to Eren for his services. He had more than enough to hire on a dozen more people to help with the ciggy operation. But more bodies meant more risk. His boys were well cared for, well fed, well compensated. Levi hoped that was enough for their loyalty.

Replacing the ledger, he stuck a long hair across the panel, then scratched at his head. He didn’t know what to do with the incoming money. He didn’t trust banks. Back when he’d proposed the idea to Erwin (the two of them spent and drinking more than they should), Erwin had suggested putting the money in a Swiss account, but Levi didn’t trust the Swiss either.

The harpy downstairs began pounding her cane against the ceiling. A new flat would be a first step. He couldn’t pick any place too fancy or his colleagues in Scotland Yard would take a closer look at his finances. Yet, Levi didn’t really need more space. He came to his flat to sleep and change clothes and that was it.

Maybe he could do something nice for his boys. Get Oluo a new cab. Some perfume for Petra. A new set of throwing knives for Erd or a cigarette case for Gunter. Eren needed a new hat, since he’d exchanged his with a bum and was still using Armin’s. He could get Zoe a silver rattle for the baby (although he was pretty certain that her poor long suffering husband would consider that the last straw). Levi fantasized about buying tons and tons of black tea for Mrs. Jaeger. Or a fancy ladies hat. The other day when he’d passed by a shop, he caught sight of a scarlet caplet with mink trim. Red suited her.

He wondered if Jean had done the same. Bought her little tokens of his affection. He shook his head in disgust. He didn’t need poisonous thoughts like that clouding his mind. No gifts. No thinking about her delicate hands on his wrist as she undid the cuffs. No thinking about the dark stain the plums had left on her lips.

Maybe he could hire a maid to come in once a week for the Jaegers? No, Eren’s pride wouldn’t allow it.

His hand slipped and the hand holding the razor nicked him by the ear. He’d busied though his morning rituals in a fog. He sighed and put a hand to his neck, remembering the heat from Eren’s mouth burning into him there. Those ample lips and bright green eyes and his tanned arms. Those were worrisome thoughts.

The truth of the matter was that Levi was at least ten years older than both of the Jaegers. Here he was, an old man, watching two young lovers and desiring both of them. Covetous. He didn’t want them, he wanted what they had. It was disgusting and frankly embarrassing behavior on his part.

He had been young and desirable once. Or at least that’s what Erwin had whispered to him when he came to him at night and they made love. They made love and the heat of it had been enough to match the burning hot sun they faced in the morning, pale strangers in a desert world that hated and rejected their intrusion. He hated his time in the service. He hated the senseless loss of life on both sides for a pathetic notion of glory. He hated each time his bullet struck home and the swell of pride that accompanied the heavy sound a body made as it hit the sand.

He still woke up at night covered in sweat over that shot. The smell of sand and gunpowder. Horses whinnying. Dark faces ran at them only to be trampled underneath heavy hooves. Erwin went down and Levi took aim.

“Shoot!” someone ordered.

They were rolling in the sand, a flash of a knife at Erwin’s throat.

“Shoot!” Erwin called and above the din Levi heard him.

The flag cracked like a whip by his ear and Levi fired. All went still. Both Erwin and his attacker fell back.

Erwin hadn’t wanted to continue their affair when they came home. He said it was because he had a girl. Levi understood. But when Erwin came home without an arm, Marie, the girl, told him she was in love with someone else. Erwin said he couldn’t blame her. He never sought Levi out after. Sure, they’d fall into bed as occasional lovers, but how could Levi stay when he knew he wasn’t the one Erwin really wanted?

There was blood on his cravat. Levi blinked and frowned. He set aside a wash bowl to soak the stained item and replaced it with a fresh new one.

Erwin desperately needed someone to take care of him. Levi just didn’t know if he could do it anymore. He’d look into a maid service for Erwin. That was the least he could do with his money.

He had just started on his second cup when there was a sharp rap at the door.

“Boss,” said Oluo when Levi cautiously opened it. “We got a problem.”

<*>

The giant mound of hair and muscle didn’t move, even when Levi kicked it.

“Get up, you shaggy dog,” Levi snapped.

The response to this question was a revolver in Levi’s face—or rather where his face would have been were he several inches taller and its wielder not piss drunk.

“There you are,” Mike slurred. “I told your lackeys to send for you hours ago.

The glazed look on Petra’s tired face told Levi that was exactly the case.

“You must be mistaken,” Levi said, stepping around the extended arm. “This is a private establishment you stumbled into and demanded free drinks under the false assumption that I—“

“You short fuck,” Mike snapped and he grabbed Levi around the throat and pulled him down. His large hands could easily snap his neck.

Levi saw Petra slide down the bar to grab the shotgun and he waved her and the others off.

“Where were you last night, hm?” Mike’s rancid breath was enough to wilt the crisp collar of Levi’s shirt.

“At a dinner party.”

“Bullshit.”

“The hostess made orange duck and we had plums for dessert. It was very tasty.”

Mike peered through his mane of hair and released Levi scratching at the whiskers on his chin.

“Where did you go after?” Mike asked finally.

“Home. And no, no one can verify that. The life of a bachelor is inconvenient that way.”

“Who is Kaney the Ripper?”

Petra gasped and Levi shot her a dirty look.

“Who?” Levi asked fixing his tie.

“Don’t fuck with me, Levi. Erwin puts up with your bullshit, I don’t have to.”

“I really don’t know who you’re talking about. You must have had quite a bit to drink—“

Mike roared, grabbing Levi again by his neck and pinning him to the table.

“You know, I can overlook your little cigarette ring and the other bullshit you do. I ignore the rumors that you were some kind of big shot hustler back in the day and that you sucked Erwin’s cock to get this job. I don’t care about your background, heritage or your height, because you get results and you shoot straight. Now I’m asking you to speak plain or I’m going to start by blowing off your kneecaps. Who is Kaney the Ripper?”

“Well,” said Levi giving a crooked smile. “The rumor always was that he was my father. But really it was a four way tie between him and three other schmucks.”

Whatever Mike had expected it wasn’t that. He blinked his hair out of his eyes trying to comprehend what Levi was telling him.

“He taught me how to fight, how to shoot, and how to scam. But most importantly he taught me how to take a beating and I never really quite forgave him for that.” Levi’s lip pulled into a sneer at the memory. “So I joined up with the service. And he never really quite forgave _me_ for that. When I got out of the service, things were tricky for a bit so I got a little crew together and we did B&E jobs. Kaney didn’t like me moving in on his turf so he tipped off our mark and got my crew killed. Erwin offered me a job with him and I made it my mission to rid the city of that filth. Together, Erwin and I mounted enough evidence against him and were about to move on it. With the heat on, he ran like the coward he is.”

“But now he’s back,” Mike caught on.

“He’s back and he’s pissed. He and some other gang are waging a war in the city. Our city, Mike.”

“And those guys who jumped your boy?”

“That’s the other gang. Run by some chump named Berik. I’ve put word out but so far I haven’t heard anything on who he is, but they’re just as ruthless as Kaney. I want them gone. I want them both gone. Now you know more than you should and it’s enough to get you killed. I hope you’re happy. Get that gun out of my face.”

Mike released him before sitting down heavily.

“Nanaba’s dead,” he said watching Levi closely as he fussed with his tie again.

“What?” Levi turned around open mouthed. “How?”

“Fire marshal said he must have been smoking too close to his film and the whole dark room just ‘poof!’ up in smoke,” Mike said looking relieved at Levi’s surprise.

“And you thought I did that?” Levi ran a hand through his hair.

“What am I supposed to think Levi? My informant say ‘Kaney the Ripper is back in town’ and say he’s looking for you. You and your boy are the only other people who knew about the photo.”

“And the crew who jumped Eren if they saw Nanaba with the camera and put two and two together. Shit. Fuck.”

“That’s not all. Reeves is dead. Throat cut. Everyone is saying that it was some vigilantes who were unhappy he dodged the charges, but that’s your man Kaney’s signature isn’t it?”

But Levi wasn’t paying attention. He was sprinting out the door to the cab, Oluo hot on his heels.

“Where are you going?” Mike asked.

“I could have led them right to Eren!” Levi’s face was ashen.

“Shit,” Mike said, sliding in next to Levi.

<*>

Levi’s fist hammered on the door and a very sleepy and shirtless Eren answered it.

“Didn’t you just leave?” he asked, yawning and scratching his tanned chest.

“You brat,” Levi snapped, pushing his way inside. “This is what I get for worrying about you.”

Eren chuckled and left for the parlor to put on a crumpled shirt. Levi frowned. Eren had clearly spent the night on the parlor sofa.

“What’re you doing here so early?” he asked, struggling with a shirt, apparently not noticing Mike standing in the doorway.

Growing impatient, Levi tugged the shirt down over Eren’s head like he was a messy child.

“Nanaba is dead.”

Eren tilted his head back for a moment and Levi thought it was in solemn respect but then Eren started snoring. He slapped his head and Eren snapped back awake.

“Ow what?”

“Did you hear me?”

“No!”

“I said Nanaba is dead.”

Eren tried to focus his eyes.

“Wait…the reporter?”

“Yes. And Reeves too.”

Eren looked from Levi to Mike, just noticing him, and then put his head in his hands.

“Oh God, this is all my fault.”

“What? No it’s not.”

“No, you don’t understand. When they had me strung up, they were asking me all kinds of questions about Historia and I said I didn’t know anything so they were going to kill me and so I said I knew someone who did know something and I just gave the first name I thought of—Reeves.”

“You were trying to stay alive,” Levi said after a few awkward moments and a sideways look at Mike. “You didn’t kill him. Reeves was a piece of shit anyway.”

“Actually, his was the second name I came up with. The first was Kirstein. Jesus what if I had said his name?”

“You need coffee,” Levi said standing up. Looking at Mike, “You too.”

He walked through the dining room to the closed kitchen doors. He could hear someone moving around in the kitchen. Pressing his ear against the door he listened for a few seconds before pushing through quickly.

There was the sound of something snapping shut and Mrs. Jaeger straightened quickly.

“I heard you downstairs and I thought I’d get started on some tea and coffee,” she said, attempting to conceal her surprise at his sudden appearance.

So Levi wasn’t the only one who had hiding places.

“I’m very sorry for the intrusion, ma’am, especially at such an early hour,” he said evenly, but she remained immobile, her eyes trying to discern what he knew. “You needn’t bother with us, I’ll see to it.”

“Nonsense,” she said, clasping her hands together. “You just head on back to the parlor and I’ll bring some out for you.”

Levi nodded and left, pausing at the closed doors to listen. She stayed frozen in place so he left. It was none of his business anyway. It struck him that he had never met two people less happily married than the Jaegers. Each of them wore their own brave face. But this house had secrets and they were slowly eroding away at the foundation. Eren didn’t know about his wife and Kirstein and she didn’t know about Eren and the ex-nun and the illicit way he was earning his living. Levi wished very much he didn’t have to be the bearer of all their secrets. His own were too heavy.

<*>

“Kaney’s back?” Erwin said an hour later, his eyes glassy as he fumbled with a shirt with his one hand.

Levi’s nimble fingers began buttoning the shirt for him but Erwin slapped him away.

“Why didn’t you come to me immediately with this?”

“You were a little preoccupied if you hadn’t noticed,” Eren said leaning against the door arch and Levi privately agreed.

“Kid is right, Captain. It’s hard to keep you informed when you go AWOL,” Mike said, as he stooped to pass through the arch and into Erwin’s messy flat.

“I had to take care of some personal matters,” Erwin lied smoothly. “It won’t happen again.”

Eren rolled his eyes and Levi let out a soft, “Tch.”

“Levi, it won’t happen again,” Erwin said touching Levi’s elbow and Levi’s stern expression softened a bit.

“I thought,” Levi said, turning away from them. “Perhaps naively, that Kaney and this Berik would come in like storm clouds, battle it out for whatever it is they’re looking for and then leave in a fortnight on the next wind.” Levi’s thin the eyebrows contracted slightly. “You said Reeves’ throat was slit. That’s how Kaney usually marks his victims. But Eren gave Berik’s crew Reeves’ name.”

“That’s right,” Mike nodded, not quite sure where Levi was going.

“How would Kaney know to hit Reeves?” Levi pointed out.

“He didn’t,” Eren realized.

Erwin sat back, putting his hand to his mouth deep in thought.

“They made Nanaba’s death look like an accident, but they killed Reeves right in Kaney’s neighborhood with Kaney’s signature. They killed Nanaba just because he _might_ have gotten a picture of them. These people are ghosts. Their plan was to waltz in here and waltz on out with us being none the wiser. They’re well trained.”

“Hessians,” Erwin said and they all looked at him startled.

“The crown hasn’t used Hessians in well over a hundred years,” Levi said fixing his tie, very much disturbed by this idea.

“That we know of,” Mike said thoughtfully.

“Fine, mercenaries or what have you,” Erwin said dismissively. “We’ve handled Kaney before. Leave him to me, I’ll come up with a plan. Instead, Mike I want you to find out all you can on our new friends. Look through any old mysterious deaths that have been linked to our new friends. Levi, you’re still on point for the Whitechapel murders.”

“Wait a moment. How do we know Kaney didn’t rip those girls?” Eren asked.

“Those were too messy for Kaney,” Levi shook his head. At least he thought so. Maybe Kaney’s bloodlust had increased since the last time Levi had seen him.

“Levi, see if our girls had a connection to Kaney anyways, but be discreet.”

“One question,” Mike said. “When do we let Dawk in on all of this?”

Erwin thought it over. “Soon, but not until we have more information.”

Crossing over to his mantle, he stared broodingly into the empty grate.

“I want these men out of London. They come in, with their guns and their knives and they walk around butchering our people. Let’s remind them who has the biggest gang in this city.”

There was a creepy glint in Erwin’s eyes and Levi’s thin lips curled a cruel smile. Eren could see why Levi said he could follow him anywhere.

<*>

“This is boring,” Eren said. “I’m bored.”

“You’re only bored if you’re boring,” Levi replied.

God, that was annoying. Every complaint Eren voiced was met with a frustratingly superior expression and some folk saying. It struck Eren that Levi was more like the grandmother he’d never known than a hardened military turned police officer. Fastidious, patient, quick with an aphorism, and thoroughly over other people’s shit. Levi was also a hypocrite. Eren didn’t know if it was stress or if he’d fallen off the wagon, but despite his claims that he didn’t like tobacco, Levi lit up whenever he found time and the monkey on Eren’s back reared its head in complaint. The worst was the silence. Levi spent most of his time in his head and turned snappish whenever Eren thought aloud.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was very misleading in his description of police work, Eren thought bitterly. He portrayed the detectives from Scotland Yard as buffoons, and his egoist protagonist Mr. Holmes the great diviner of “facts.” He could look at one’s cuff and determine their occupation, or look at a boot print and gauge the height of their killer. The reality was that neither Eren nor Levi could assume shit from the information they came across. There was no convenient muddy print or mustard stain on a pristine cuff for them to muse over. London was filthy and the grime covered any usable clue. Whitechapel was “ _crasseux_ ” as Levi would say in his half horrified whisper. They had the facts of the case, but of all the information, what was pertinent?

The problem with solving a murder is that nothing can be assumed. There are only the facts. And the facts were these: Mary Ann Nichols and Annie Chapman both had their throats cut, both women had been stabbed repeatedly in the abdomen, both were known to be prostitutes.

Now, was it safe to connect these two cases? Could Eren say for certain that Mary Ann Nichols and Annie Chapman’s deaths were related? No. Could he say with certainty that the murders before weren’t connected? No. Facts can be interpreted, but interpretations are fickle. If they couldn’t draw conclusions from the facts presented, then there was no way to move forward.

They had to assume the two were linked if they wanted any progress. The cases were too similar. And so they spent the better part of the week (save Sunday, Levi gave Eren that day to rest and so he took his wife and Armin with him to the chaplain’s service) looking for any connection to the two. There had to be a connection, right?

“What reasons do you think men kill for?” Levi asked one day.

“Money,” Eren said immediately. “Faith. Women. Anger. Jealousy. Rage.”

“Men kill for one reason and one reason only,” Levi said in a quiet yet confident voice. “They covet.”

“I don’t think that’s wholly true,” Eren mused.

“Men want things like money, respect. They covet these things. And women, in their mind, are merely one more thing to possess.”

If that was the case, what kind of man ripped open women? What did he covet?

Eren thought of Dr. Hange and her obsession with the human brain. If he cracked open their culprit’s skull what would he find? Even with the man in front of him would he ever be able to understand his motives?

He remembered in India, a story about a so-called holy man had ripped open the gut of a cow (a great profanity) and pulled out its entrails to read. Haruspicy, Armin had called it. The man must have been mad to commit such a grave act. The heretic read his own death in the liver and wailed. He had been right. Soon after he was found with his head bashed in. But that had all just been a story told by the white colonists, right? A legend to show how much the natives revered the docile animal? Eren had heard were many similar tales illustrating the superiority of the British race growing up and so he learned to take them with a heavy grain of salt.

Yet, when he saw that woman laid out in the gate, he couldn’t help think of the mother cow with her viscera spilled upon the ground. Eren wondered if he could divine anything from her insides like the way Petra read her cards.

Thus far, he had gleaned nothing from slapping his feet around Whitechapel, except that he needed a new pair of shoes. Any new little bit of information, such as the identity of Annie Chapman’s old beau or a description of her killer as “dark and foreign” (a description that was conveniently brought to light after one trashy paper called the killings a gypsy conspiracy), swirled around in Eren’s head like flies on a dungheap. He couldn’t keep all of the information in his head. He felt like a child who was attempting to assemble a puzzle with hammer (a feat he’d actually accomplished as a child—effectively ruining the puzzle set).

The only relief he got from this maddening work was rolling the cigarettes at night. He found the ritualistic work oddly soothing. A different form of monotony.

Boredom and an empty stomach was making him increasingly surly. He could feel a hazy red aura falling over him, that heavy cloud that always overtook him whenever he felt like punching someone or something.

“I just wish we felt like we were actually doing something,” Eren sighed as they strolled up to Whitehall.

“We are doing something. Or rather I am. You haven’t done shit to hold up your end of the deal.”

Eren’s jaw tightened and he worked it like a python readying to swallow a rat whole. Levi just had to say that right in earshot of everyone he worked with. Remind them who was in charge.

“I’m guessing this is why you haven’t had a partner for more than a few weeks,” Eren struggled to get those words out around his grimace. There, two could play at that game.

“Because everyone else is incompetent?” Levi cocked his head to the side, ignoring Eren’s slight with his casual indifference.

“What was your kill number again? 183? How many cases have you landed?” Eren scrunched up his nose in thought. “I bet it wasn’t ten out of eleven like your gun range score.”

Levi stopped his fast paced stride, his polished shoes squeaking on the tile. Eren stared at his own scuffed up shoes. Levi waited for Eren to continue, but Eren stared at his laces knowing it would only irk Levi.

“Tch,” Levi tsked and looked down at Eren’s shoes as well. “Are…are those the same socks you wore yesterday?”

“Maybe?”

“And the day before?” Levi’s voice rose slightly.

“So?”

“That’s the first thing they teach you in training! Change and powder your goddamn feet. What do you want to kill you? A spear to the head or fucking rot-foot?”

“Right now a fucking spear to the head sounds perfect,” Eren grumbled.

“That’s so disgusting,” Levi continued, his perfect nose wrinkling.

“I’m not in the service anymore! Remember?”

“I do. Do you?” Levi stopped again, this time leaning in and up, catching Eren’s eye before he could find that spot on his shoes. “Do you remember how you were forced out of the service?”

“Lieutenant!” Officer Nifa jumped up. “Captain Smith is in his office and wants to speak with you.”

“Captain,” Levi said breezing in the doors, disregarding the visitor Erwin had in his office. “What did you want?”

“I uh—sorry—“ Officer Nifa said catching up with them.

“That’s fine, could you bring us some tea, please?”

“Y-yes, sir,” Nifa said with a long sideways glance at Levi. Eren knew that look. Levi was very particular about how his tea was brewed. He was very picky about a lot of things.

“Lieutenant,” Dr. Arlert nodded meekly and was graced with a sideways glance from Levi.

“Dr. Arlert was just stopping by and wondering if the photos he took for us had proven useful.”

“No,” Levi said with his usual lack of tact.

Armin wilted a little under his fierce gaze.

“You could find that out from Schlemiel here, he lives next door,” Levi jerked his thumb at Eren.

“Just because I don’t know what you’re saying doesn’t mean I don’t know that you’re insulting me,” Eren said sounding altogether too much like a henpecked husband.

“Well that and I’m dropping off all copies of the film. I’ve had several reporters stop by and offer to buy it from me,” Armin said with a slightly exasperated expression.

“Oh. Well thanks. That’s decent of you.”

“Have you made any headway?” Erwin asked.

“Oh yeah, we’re bringing the guy in right now, got him handcuffed and everything.”

“So…not yet.”

“You’ll know the second I know,” Levi snapped his fingers.

Erwin turned his glassy eyes onto Eren and the two of them shared a look of commiseration.

“Well I wanted to call you in for other reasons,” Erwin continued, attempting to stack a pile of papers. “You haven’t—“ He paused because Levi was straightening the edges of his papers with his manicured fingernail. “—you haven’t been putting in your hours on the s _tick punch_.”

Levi let out a groan and spun in place.

“Everyone has to do it. You refused to go to training and now you’re far behind everyone else.”

“I have to catch a killer!” Levi protested, rotating a paperweight he’d given Erwin for his five years on the force so that it faced out properly.

“You are booked in the stick punch room for two hours tonight,” Erwin informed him and Levi groaned. “Bring Eren and you two can go over your notes while you wait for the telegraphs.”

“Please do not stick me in a room with him. He hasn’t changed his socks in three days and I can smell them,” Levi pleaded in a low voice.

“You know I can hear you right?” Eren raised his voice slightly.

“I know it’s scary, but this is the future of technology. We can transfer pertinent information on criminal records, medical evidence like that!” It was Erwin’s turn to snap his fingers. “You don’t need to be afraid of the machine, you can learn it easily.”

Levi looked very much like he’d like to break those two snapping fingers. His lip curled.

“I’m not afraid of it. I just think it’s complicated and a waste of time for someone of my skills to be stuck in a tiny room listening to blips and watching an oversized hole puncher.”

“Oh come on, old man,” Eren gave a mean laugh. “It’s not that hard. I’ll teach you if you want.”

Levi looked from Eren to Erwin, his delicate features pinched and angry.

“Do you see what I’ve had to put up with all day?”

“I’m just saying that Morse code is standard training nowadays,” Eren shrugged. “Not like back in your day.”

Erwin raised his large eyebrows at this, nodding his head at Levi. Levi fumed, fussing with the items on Erwin’s desk. Eren leaned forward and moved the paperweight back to its original position which wasn’t symmetrical at all.

“Stop that,” Levi snapped, slapping his hand.

“You only fixate with things like this when you’re stuck on a case,” Erwin pointed out.

“Well at least I’m not stuck on the john,” Levi grumbled, which wasn’t exactly true. He hadn’t had a decent shit in a while and it was beginning to wear on him.

“Take a break and get to know the stick punch,” Erwin insisted as Levi and Eren continued to have a mini battle with the items on his desk.

“Why are you such a contrary little brat?” Levi hissed.

“At least I’m not some constipated old man who doesn’t know Morse code,” Eren said tipping over Erwin’s fountain pen (another gift from Levi).

“I know Morse code!”

“Then what does this mean?” Eren asked, rapping his knuckles on Levi’s head.

“Don’t touch me!”

“Nope, the answer was—“

Levi flung Eren’s hands off of him at the same time Officer Nifa entered carrying a tray, knocking the contents all over the room and drenching Levi in tea. Armin managed to escape the flying liquid by ducking behind his medical bag and Erwin behind his desk.

Flinging tea off of himself, Levi stormed from the room into the main hall.

“Whoopsie,” Eren mimicked Levi’s own words, biting back a smirk as he chased after him.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” Levi snapped, tea pooling at his feet. “Why are you so eager to pick a fight today?”

“What’s wrong with me? What’s wrong with you?” Eren snapped right back. “Nothing is ever good enough for you. You spent twenty minutes today arguing with me over the pronunciation of ‘schedule.’”

“I should have left you where I found you!”

“Haven’t heard that one yet! You bring up the conditions of my release every twenty minutes. Just admit that this was a terrible idea you had and it’s not working the way you wanted it.”

“Nothing in my life works the way I want it to!” Levi shouted and several people stopped and stared.

No one had ever seen the small man lose his temper before. Not that he was ever pleasant, but at least his anger was contained inside that tiny body of his.

“Eren, why do you do this?” He pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Do what?”

“Why do you constantly look for a fight? Who are you fighting?”

“I’m not looking for a fight, I’m just tired of traipsing around all of London not doing a goddamn bit of good.”

“That’s the job, Eren, you signed up for this.”

“I thought I signed up to catch a killer not follow around a midget who can speak three languages but is afraid of the stick punch machine. It’s a stick punch, not Punch and Judy, Levi.”

“You know what stuck out about you to me?” Levi said pushing his finger into Eren’s chest hard enough to leave a bruise. “You said you never raised a hand to a superior officer. Now I’m starting to think that’s true but that you drove them crazy enough to lay hands on you first!”

Eren’s eyes glinted dangerously. “Wanna find out, old man?” He took a step forward and Levi could feel him flexing his knuckles for a fight.

Levi looked him up and down, sizing him up. Letting out a small, “tch” he shook his head and sauntered away.

“Levi!” Eren shouted after him. “Don’t you walk away from me, Levi!”

“You really want to do this kid?” Levi asked as Eren spun him around. “You really want to hurt that badly? Because I’ll leave you bloody and broken.”

“Eren!” Armin pleaded having caught up with them.

Erwin stood behind the doctor, watching the scene unfold.

“You know what I think Levi,” Eren whispered as a crowd had gathered around them. Levi could smell his sickening breath on his skin and it electrified every part of him. “I think you’re an old dog who is all bark and no bite.”

“Are you going to hit me, Eren?” Levi asked silkily, his voice so low Eren had to strain to hear it. “Will that make you feel better? Feel like more of a man? If you really need that, maybe you should go home and fuck your wife.”

Eren’s eyes widened and before he could even think his fist was out and reaching for Levi’s smug expression only to be lifted off the ground by Mike Zacharius.

“I will fucking kill you, you fuckin—“ Eren ranted and then continued in this manner for some time.

“Eren! Please calm down!” Armin cried, holding his hands over his face protectively as Eren flailed about.

“What do you think?” Erwin asked Levi. “Should we send him back to Pixis or did you want to teach him a lesson in the basement first?”

Levi chewed on his cheek before looking at the scuff marks left on the back of his shoes by Eren dogging him all day.

“Basement,” Levi growled.

As a matter of course, when two people work together as closely as the men of Scotland Yard did, there were bound to grievances on either side. The storage in the basement proved to be the perfect place to air such disputes. With morale as low as it had ever been, Erwin didn’t see the harm in giving his subordinates a brawl to bond over. Fisticuffs it was then.

“We’re heading to the basement!” Erwin informed the gathered crowd.

“What’s in the basement?” Armin asked.

There were a few whoops of excitement and then the whole group surged and Armin and Eren found themselves stuffed in the spacious basement. Armin realized all too quickly that they intended to fight.

“Lieutenant!” Armin protested as both Levi and Eren stripped to the waist. “Lieutenant! I don’t think this is a good idea!”

But Levi wasn’t listening.

“Oi Captain!” Levi called. “How about we make this interesting. If I knock the brat out I don’t have to spend a single moment on the stick punch?”

“Seems fair,” Erwin nodded.

“Captain!” Armin begged Erwin. “Don’t let them do this. This is stupid. The last time Eren boxed in school his opponent wound up having to eat soft foods for the rest of his life—please?”

“I’d worry more about your friend,” Erwin nudged Armin. “Levi used to make quite a racket hustling bare knuckle fights back in the day.”

Armin looked at the short Lieutenant and then back at the Captain.

“His short size meant his opponents largely underestimated him,” Erwin understood Armin’s expression. “He’s fine. Your boy any good?”

“The best,” Armin nodded, fiercely loyal.

Some of the officers were taking bets.

“Well this should make it interesting at least for anyone willing to put down coin.” Erwin slipped a farthing to the one officer acting as bookie.

Losing all sense of morality, Armin shouted, “Kick his ass Eren!” and then also placed a sizable bet.

“You wrap your hand this time, brat?” Levi asked.

Now that Eren saw him without his shirt on he realized how Levi could wreck Daz and his crew and come out relatively unscathed. Levi was small but compact and every inch of him was corded muscle. The silly cravat he wore made his thick neck look far skinnier than it actually was and he kept rolling his shoulders shaking them out in preparation for the fight. His translucent skin showed off every vein. Eren kept pulling his eyes down to Levi’s thick quads, those might be tricky.

Eren wasn’t anything to shy away from. That tanned skin pulled down over a taut stomach and a pair of impressive biceps. He held his hands up by those pretty green eyes of his and Levi thought it would be such a shame to send him back to his missus with one of those blackened.

“Don’t worry about my hand, old man,” Eren kept saying it because Levi was vain, always looking at those wrinkles under his eye in passing mirrors, and he couldn’t help needle it in. “You just don’t piss yourself.”

“Rules are: Don’t go for the eyes and don’t go for the groin!” some novice officer shouted.

“I’d have a hard time finding that,” Eren said loudly and everyone laughed.

“I suggest anyone who doesn’t want my foot in their face back up about a good meter,” Levi drawled and the officers, having seen Levi in action before took a collective few steps back.

“Ready?” someone shouted again. “Set! Fight!”

Immediately they were both up. Eren bouncing around the makeshift ring and Levi using his height as an advantage and staying low but keeping his upper half covered. They danced around for a bit, Eren looking for a good opening, but Levi stayed crouched.

“Captain’s watching,” Eren nodded to Levi. “You better not disappoint him.”

Erwin had watched many fights of Levi’s and Levi didn’t even bother to give him a second glance.

“You know from the first moment I met you,” Eren continued, bouncing around on the balls of his feet.

He dances like a fucking fairy, Levi thought, gritting his teeth.

“I hated how you always followed that dope fiend around like a lapdog.”

Eren took a probing swipe and Levi ducked and dodged. Speedy fucker.

“I mean, what did he have to do to get that kind of obedience from you? Fuck you?” Eren’s words were low and not audible to the crowd but Levi wouldn’t have cared either way. Let the brat run his mouth.

“He doesn’t control me, Eren,” Levi said, his words nearly impossible to hear around his fists. “What you call obedience I call discipline. I have complete mastery over myself—my body and my emotions. You could learn something, brat.”

He aimed a low knee kick and Eren went to block it but then Levi’s leg extended and caught Eren in the temple. Eren stumbled a bit but then went right back into bouncing.

“Nice footwork,” Eren said, those green eyes smiling behind his wrapped fists.

“You’re not so bad yourself, butterfly feet.”

“I mean it! But you know that despite all your fancy moves there’s really no match for brute strength, right?”

And Eren barreled down hard on the shorter man, pumping his fists hard but meeting nothing but air. Levi used that opportunity to go low and get him hard in the gut. Eren aimed downward, his fists connecting with Levi’s ribs. He’d meant to hit him in the kidneys, but Levi was too fast for that. They broke quickly.

“This is already too awful!” Armin exclaimed, changing his mind. “Please call it off!” He begged the Captain.

“Take out those fancy feet of his!” Erwin shouted.

Levi’s foot collided with Eren’s shin and he fell down to one knee. Springing up on the balls of his feet Levi brought his fist hard down onto Eren’s stupid fat head, but he blocked it with his fat hands.

They broke again.

Striking fast like a viper, Levi caught Eren in the chin and when the taller man was busy blocking that blow, Levi wrapped his legs around Eren’s waist in a wrestler’s grapple.

This was a poor idea. Eren had also excelled at wrestling at his alma mater. He broke the hold and flipped Levi onto his back, pinning him like a tortoise. Levi once again used those powerful legs to propel himself out of Eren’s grasp before Eren could strike him. He caught Eren in the ribs, once, twice, forcing the breath from his lungs. Eren grappled once again and had Levi on his back. Levi put the flats of his palms against Eren’s shoulders and Eren found he couldn’t lean down further. As Eren reared back, Levi kicked out against Eren’s thigh, pushing out of the grip and then he caught Eren’s neck with those thick thighs of his.

Fuck! Eren thought and in a desperate attempt he punched Levi’s calves with his heavy fists.

Levi held sure and he gave a knowing grin to Erwin watching from the crowd. Incensed and quickly growing exhausted, Eren managed to roll and catch Levi’s neck in his own grip.

“Break!” shouted the officer who’d appointed himself referee.

“NO!” Eren shouted or rather tried to as Levi’s powerful thighs choked the air out of him.

Levi himself was turning red and he aimed a few well-placed jabs at Eren’s sternum.

“Oh god, they’re going to kill each other,” Armin breathed.

“Yea,” Erwin agreed, stepping into the ring quickly. “They actually might. Break it up!”

But neither man would release the other and Eren found the world slowly closing in on him. He made one last attempt to break free and Levi only tightened his hold and the world faded away into black.

When he came to, Armin was ranting, “—both of you so stubborn! Could have broken your necks!”

Eren was on his back, his neck burning for the second time in two weeks, Levi on his left his chest heaving like he had been when he saved him from the hangman’s noose.

“I—lose?” Eren tried to ask.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry Nanaba fans. T_T 
> 
> I like Erwin insisting Levi learn the stickpunch like Cuddy making House do clinic hours. 
> 
> This chapter was one of my weaker ones, sorry. The next one is exciting! Next time: THE DOUBLE EVENT!


	7. Double Your Pleasure, Double Your Fun

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eren and Levi makeup after their fight. Bored in the stick punch room, Levi tells Eren about the Epic of Gilgamesh. Erwin wants a show of force at Pastor Nick's Whitechapel Vigilance Committee rally. Armin worries about a possible mob mentality. Surely the killer wouldn't strike the night of the rally with every able man armed and patrolling the streets? Right? Or is this the night of THE DOUBLE EVENT?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mary Ann Nichols, Annie Chapman, Elizabeth Stride, Catherine Eddowes, and Mary Kelly. These are the "canonical five" of the Jack the Ripper killings. There has been a lot of speculation over the years about Jack the Ripper (the most recent being DNA evidence proving Aaron Kosminski as the killer, which some claim is inconclusive). Jack the Ripper lore is steeped in anti-semitism and full of royal conspiracies. The shadowed figure of Jack the Ripper is often talked about, revered even, while his victims are waved off as prostitutes. I want you to remember those five names above. I want it to burn into your brain. You can have your theories on who killed them: a doctor, a butcher, a raving lunatic, etc, but let's be real here, the real perpetrator is misogyny, plain and simple.
> 
> My tumblr is [perksofbeingawaifu.tumblr.com](http://perksofbeingawaifu.tumblr.com/)
> 
> Tracking tag is #fic: boh
> 
> If you like, please leave kudos and/or comments! Your comments always pump me up and keep me motivated!
> 
> \--
> 
> THE DOUBLE EVENT! Dun dun dunnnnn.
> 
> TW: Blood, gore.  
> TW: Murder  
> TW: Racism/Antisemitism

“ _Tyger Tyger burning bright,  
_ _In the forests of the night;  
_ _What immortal hand or eye,  
_ _Could frame thy fearful symmetry?”_

_-The Tyger,_ William Blake.

 

In the end, both of them were stuck in the tiny stick punch room for two whole hours.

“Captain Smith isn’t fair,” Levi complained. “I knocked you out.”

“You choked me out,” Eren pointed out, rubbing at his neck. “And you passed out too.”

Erwin contested that the fist fight was a draw and therefore Levi still had to put in his time.

“Bureaucracy at its worst,” Levi groused.

Eren tipped his hat over his eyes and leaned back to catch a few z’s.

“Oi, brat,” Levi said, rubbing his thighs. “Sorry for earlier, for uh—the thing I said about you and your wife. That’s private, that’s none of my business.”

Eren said nothing and Levi thought he might have gone to sleep but he saw a green eye peering out from under the brim of Armin’s hat.

“Sorry I—“ Eren struggled. He wasn’t good with apologies. To be honest he hadn’t expected Levi to apologize, but Levi was a gentleman that way. Levi was better than half of the bluebloods Eren had gone to school with. Eren was altogether too fond of him and that made his actions earlier all the more embarrassing.

Levi sighed, “You’ve got all this anger inside of you and you’re constantly looking for someone to take it out on. Now, I can handle it, but what if the next person you tussle with can’t? What if it’s Armin or Michelle? God forbid you have kids.”

“I think about that a lot,” Eren whispered and Levi’s heart nearly broke for him.

“Look, kid, I’m angry too. I’m angry a lot of the time.  But I learned long ago that being angry does jack shit. I just put that anger to good use. Funnel it into the job.”

The ticker punch started moving and Eren sat up and collected the tape, reading the code aloud for Levi to transcribe.

“Break-in reported at Nag’s Head [STOP] Officers at scene [STOP]” Eren read and Levi jotted it down with his terse handwriting. Eren expected Levi’s handwriting to be all flourish like his cravat but instead it was clipped and short like his personality. “Is anybody going to be able to read that?” Eren asked.

Levi sighed and threw down the pencil after marking the date and time.

“What a waste of goddamn time.”

After twenty minutes of absolute silence between them and the stick punch Eren gave a long sigh.

“I’m bored. This is boring.”

“You’re only bored if you’re—ah fuck it, I’m bored too. Tell me a story.”

“About what?”

“Seriously? You’ve been to Japan and India. You were a big game hunter! Don’t hunters always have good stories? What about that Devil Cat? You never finished that one.”

Eren looked over at him and there was pain in those green eyes and Levi regretted saying anything.

“Another time perhaps,” Eren said quietly. “What about you?”

“I don’t have any stories, kid, I’m boring.”                                                                

“You’re not boring! You’re the most interesting person I know! And you’re my first new friend since…since ever!”

Levi suppressed a smile, but Eren saw it tugging at the corners of his mouth.

“What?”

“Oh…something I read a long time ago.” He waved it off but Eren kept looking at him waiting for him to finish. “Right, so there’s this man. He’s some big cock of the walk. Gilda something. Gilga. Gilgamesh, that’s right I always forget his name. And he meet this other guy who is a wild man. And they just duke it out wailing at each other.”

“Sounds familiar.” Eren stretched out on their seat leaning on Levi’s shoulder sleepily.

“But then Gilgawhatsit and the wild man…shit what was his name…Enkidu. Gilgamesh and Enkidu become friends after their fight. And they team up to kill this monster.”

Eren smiled. “What happens next?”

Levi struggled to remember, putting his hand to Eren’s head absentmindedly. “They kill the monster. Then the goddess Ishtar attempts to seduce Gilgamesh and he refuses so she sends a bull from heaven down on them. The two men kill it but the gods are so incensed they kill Enkidu. And Gilgamesh is sad so he wanders the earth trying to understand death and become immortal.”

Eren wrinkled his nose. “I like the first half better.”

“I do too,” Levi agreed. He realized his fingers were in Eren’s hair and he pulled them away.

“No, don’t stop my head is itchy,” Eren complained.

“ _Crasseux_.”

“Levi?” Eren asked. “I was wondering…can you teach me to fight like you?”

Levi was surprised by this.

“Why? You can hold your own pretty well.”

“In a real match, they would have broken the hold and we would have gone for another round. I don’t think I could have lasted another round.” He looked a little embarrassed.

“Talk about cutting off your nose to spite your face. You decided you’d rather knock us both out than lose to me in the next round.” Levi shook his head.

“So will you?” Eren looked up with his big eyes.

“Sure, kid,” Levi nodded. It had been a while since he’d had someone to spar with and with Kaney and Berik’s crew on the loose he needed to keep his reflexes sharp.

The ticker started again and Eren swung his feet back to the floor and read the message aloud for Levi again. When he finished Levi was staring at his written notes, an idea dawning on him.

“We keep all messages we pull from the ticker tape, right?” he asked. Eren had no idea. “We could look back and see if there is any mention of our killers!”

Twenty minutes later and the stick punch was putting out messages that weren’t being answered as Levi and Eren sat sorting through old messages.

“Arson on Canal Street…ah! Suspects described as a tall man and a slightly shorter man with a large build?”

“Put it in the ‘maybe’ pile.”

Officer Nifa came in to relieve them. Looking from the piles of paper on the floor and the stick punch still spewing out the ticker tape, the small policeman could only beg, “Why?”

<*>

“Mike is on Berik’s crew, you’re supposed to be working on the girls in Whitechapel,” Erwin said two days later as Levi approached with his copies of the stick punch correspondences.

“I know that! I’m just…helping,” Levi waved around a few of his notes, Eren carrying the others like a rather large bouquet of flowers. “Just think if we’d had this technology going back five, ten years!”

“While I am happy you’ve come to love the stick punch, I think you may have taken a few liberties—“

“Captain Smith?” Armin said from the doorway and froze when he saw Levi and Eren again.

“Back again?” Levi snapped. “Don’t you have patients?”

“I—uh—“ Armin gave a pleading look at Erwin. “I’ll just be going then.”

“No, come in please,” Erwin insisted.

Armin dragged his feet reluctantly, not keen on being in the same room with the three of them since the last time had ended with tea everywhere.

Levi ignored him and continued, “I put in the description of the crew and their activities out to all major police forces in Europe and I sent a transatlantic memo and look—“

He slapped down another paper on Erwin’s desk.

“I got a response from a Pinkerton agent. He says our crew—two men and one woman—was in Chicago five years ago. During that time they racked up an impressive body count of sixty-four including a congressman and an archbishop. They come in and set up camp for three months, get what they’re looking for and they breeze out. Now by my guess, this is the longest they’ve been in any city. I think they can’t find what they’re looking for and they’re getting desperate.”

“…And you made this conclusion just from a few hours on the stick punch?” Erwin asked, his large eyebrows disappearing into his perfect hair.

“No…I had a few balls in the air and they just all came together at once—just look at this and pass it on to Mike, please?”

“Pass what to me?” Mike asked, carrying a heavy box.

“What’s in the box?” Levi asked, picking up items before Mike could stop him. “’Dear Boss…That joke about Leather Apron gave me real fits.’ Ugh, these hoaxes are getting disgusting.”

Armin and Erwin exchanged a look that didn’t go unnoticed by Eren.

“’They say I’m a doctor now, ha ha.’ Why do you have this schlock?”

“They were sent to Nanaba after he died and the paper sent them over to me,” Mike sighed.

Levi filled him in on his discovery of Berik’s crew.

“How are you progressing, Mike?” Erwin asked.

“I thought if we knew what they were looking for then maybe we could catch them. I’ve been spending my days looking for this Historia. I’ve got nothing. There are only four mentions of anyone named Historia crossing into London in the past year and I followed up with all of them. Guess what? They’re all dead.”

They all turned their heads to look at him sharply.

“One was an old woman who the doctor said died of old age. Two were women in their thirties, one in Manchester and one in Glasgow, and both were found cut to ribbons, probably tortured. Another was a seven year old girl, she went missing and they found her a week later, floating in a water tower—they think she must have been playing and fell in. Whoever these people are, they’re very serious. And we still have no idea what they actually want, but it must be very valuable. I put a few notices out to major banks and there are no robberies that appear connected.”

“Right,” murmured Erwin. “We’ve given descriptions of these individuals to each of our officers. We’ll wait for them to make a false step. In the meantime, there’s a large rally Saturday for the Whitechapel Vigilance Committee.”

Both Mike and Levi groaned.

“Sorry, what?” Eren asked, still holding all of Levi’s notes.

“More like the ‘Vigilante’ committee,” Levi muttered.

“You haven’t seen their leader Pastor Nick in any of the papers?” Armin asked Eren quietly. “He’s the one who sets up on a soapbox at screams at any passing prostitute. Now he runs the group that thinks they’re going to catch the Whitechapel killer.”

“Mrs. Brzenska of the Women’s Christian Coalition is going to be there as well.”

There was a second groan.

“I want every officer to be there. I want us to outnumber their group two to one. Make the people think they’re safe. And also to keep the Vigilance Committee in line. The last thing I want is an angry mob.”

<*>

It had been a busy week. Between the daily investigations, their time on the stick punch, then rolling cigarettes at The Greeks and sparring with Eren at night, Levi was relieved when Friday came around. He was surprised when Mrs. Jaeger invited him over again. He would have thought he wore out his welcome the first night.

Dinner was tasty kidney pie. During the meal, he managed to actually contribute to the conversation. Mrs. Jaeger expressed interest in the case. Levi could only give her vague answers. A lady didn’t need to hear about such grotesqueries, especially during a meal.

“Captain Smith wants the police force to make a show at the Whitechapel Vigilance Committee rally,” Levi informed her.

“About that…” Armin set down his fork, looking at his plate in deep concentration. “Is it really necessary that you be there?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?”

“It’s just seems like such a volatile situation. If something were to set off a group of people like that…who knows what they might do.”

He left it at that, but his words kept buzzing around in Levi’s head long after.

<*>

“We must purge this city of the filth that poisons our streets! The papists! The foreigners! Those who would seek to undermine God’s will in this glorious country! These punishments are being visited upon us for our lack of vigilance! We have turned a blind eye to the plight we as a nation face! It is the righteous who must reclaim our streets! The righteous must—“

“You know it’s funny,” Levi said observing Pastor Nick shouting from his soapbox as Erwin hurried up to him. “The circumstances change but the words never do.”

“He wants authorization to arm his men for patrols,” Erwin said out of the corner of his mouth as he appeared next to Levi, watching the scene with a stiff back.

“Where were you?” Levi asked. “I thought you’d be here earlier.”

“I got caught up with other business,” Erwin said, biting the edge of his gloved hand to pull it on. At Levi’s doubtful expression, he continued, “I told you I’m done with that stuff.”

He didn’t seem under the influence so Levi turned back to the show.

Pastor Nick caught sight of Levi and Levi saw the Pastor’s lip curl. The woman standing at the Pastor’s side, Mrs. Brzenska of the Women’s Christian Coalition, followed the Pastor’s gaze. She was a thin woman, with tight lips and prematurely graying hair and small, round wire-rimmed glasses. She settled those silver glasses on Levi and nodded gravely. He tipped his hat respectfully.

The shouting part of the rally seemed to have stopped and they were breaking the group into several smaller groups. Mrs. Brzenska made her way to Erwin.

“Captain,” she offered her hand.

“Ma’am,” Erwin nodded, taking it. “Quite a turnout. You must be pleased.”

“Given the circumstances, I think not.” She pursed her lips. “And this must be Lieutenant Pascal,” she extended her hand to Levi. “We’ve heard good things about you, Lieutenant. They say you’re the one who will catch our killer.”

“I hope so ma’am,” Levi took her hand and stooped to his little bow.

They watched a group of men, armed with black jacks and saps, give a few practiced swipes at the air.

“I’m glad Whitechapel is finally getting the attention it needs from the public. Women are beaten, raped, and murdered every day in this city. It seems the only way the public pays attention is if it is done in a truly horrific fashion,” she said, her steely eyes surveying the scene.

“All cases are treated with equal attention—“ Erwin began.

“We are not equal, Captain Smith. Do you think your police officers cared about the women here until these gruesome events? Do you think these men care? They’re here for glory. Don’t tell me you treat each case equally. We may all be equal in the eyes of Christ but in the eyes of the law we are not.”

“Then why the dog and pony show?” Levi asked her.

“I don’t like the way this man uses our streets as his own personal hunting ground. Hiding in alleys and behind buildings like a tiger in the brush. Reminds us that there is little separating us from beasts; that we are all born of sin.”

Eren (late as ever) finally caught sight of Levi and Erwin and jogged up to them. Levi figured that was as good a time as any to introduce him to Mrs. Brzenska, “This is my associate, Mr. Jaeger.”

“I saw you in the paper back when you killed that giant wolf,” Mrs. Brzenska nodded in recognition.

“Yes, ma’am,” Eren nodded.

Levi was distracted by a bum stumbling from an alley into the large crowd. One of the men shoved the bum off of him, shouting and kicking at him. The obviously drunk man kept clawing at any passerby. Finally one man flung a coin down at the bum. The man clutched the coin and then dropped it, attempting to get the attention of yet another Vigilance member.

“You can understand, Captain Smith, how I fail to see the difference between hiring a civilian as a consultant and receiving help from the good citizens from this city,” Mrs. Brzenska wasted no time in getting to her point.

“Well the big difference, begging your pardon, ma’am, is that I work for Captain Smith, I report to him, I take orders from him.”

“I’m sure our men would be able to accommodate that,” Mrs. Brzenska waved this aside.

“I’m not deputizing a hundred angry men and handing them guns,” Erwin said quickly.

“They don’t even let me have a gun,” Eren added.

“That’s foolish,” Mrs. Brzenska sniffed. “What’s the point of hiring a famous hunter if you’re not going to arm him?”

Eren had been wondering the same thing himself.

“All I’m saying Captain Smith is—“

“Lieutenant?” Eren asked Levi because the shorter man was walking towards the bum, his steps purposeful and brisk.

“Jaeger,” Levi said, summoning Eren with a snap of his fingers.

The bum was shaking his head and moaning. When he saw Levi, he seized the Lieutenant’s shoulders. The man was filthy and covered in vomit and his knees weak, but Levi held him firm.

“He got Liz. Ripped Liz.”

“ _Show me_ ,” Levi breathed.

The bum led them to Dutfield’s Yard. He refused to go any further and collapsed on the ground. The yard was pitch black. The darkness clung to their coats with tiny clawed hands and Eren could barely make out the pale face that belonged Levi.

Levi struck a match and his grey eyes lit up with the golden light. Holding the small flame away from himself, he stepped forward carefully until he made out the outline of a shape. She had her back to Levi and there was black liquid pooling in front of her that Eren realized with a turn of his stomach was blood. In the cool September air, Levi could see steam rising off the cooling blood. He half expected her to turn around and look at him. He leaned over the body and the match burnt his fingers.

Letting out a hiss of pain, he shook the match out and struck another quickly. He could feel the darkness closing in on him, smothering him with her icy breath. Why is it the darkness allowed his imagination to run free? As he struggled to light the match horrifying thoughts came to him unbidden. He thought of Mrs. Jaeger’s plum stained lips, centipedes and black beetles forcing their way free from her mouth. It’s not her, it’s not her. Levi gave a cry of frustration and the match finally caught.

She was definitely dead. Eren stepped forward carefully in the dim light and reached out to touch the woman’s leg.

“Lieutenant, she’s still warm.”

There was blood still oozing from her neck. She couldn’t have been dead more than an hour. Maybe only ten minutes. Her right arm was flung over her and her left extended with a small packet of mints still caught in her palm.

“That means we just missed him!” Eren whirled around to look at the nearly empty street.

“We need light,” Levi sighed. “Alright, you stay here and I’ll grab—“

“Oi Lipski!” a drunken man slurred at Levi. He caught sight of the outline of the dead woman and began screaming. “Murder! Lipski! Murder!”

Lipski? Levi hadn’t heard that one yet. He remembered bringing Israel Lipski in on murder charges. Bastard had forced a pregnant woman to drink nitric acid. And now they were calling him Lipski? Un-fucking-believable.

The drunk man’s shouting attracted a passing group of Vigilance Committee members. Grabbing the leader, he pointed at where Levi and Eren were standing over the body.

“Levi, look,” Eren seized Levi’s wrist and pulled the tiny flame down the ground. “Blood. We can track him.”

“We need to secure the scene—“ Levi shook his head.

“He was just here Levi, we can catch him. I can catch him.”

_I can get you that shot._

“Let’s string ‘em up Kitts!” one of the men shouted and the leader nodded.

“Grab the little bastard!” Kitts shouted, pulling a thick rope from inside his coat.

“Never mind, let’s go!” Levi barely had time to strike a new match before Eren seized him by the wrist and pulled him further into the pitch black yard. “Eren, wait!”

But Eren was on the hunt.  He grabbed a match from Levi and lit it.

“There,” he pointed at some blades of grass slick with wet.

A footprint. Levi had a footprint. The goddamn brat had gotten him a footprint! How long would it remain there with the Vigilance Committee and uniformed dumbasses trampling his goddamn scene? He turned around and saw the flash of a lantern as the group surrounded the body, then shouts and they pointed at the shadowy forms of Eren and Levi.

“C’mon,” Eren tugged at Levi’s arm.

“But—“ Levi gave a wistful look at his boot print.

He stooped to the ground and lightly held his grey wool coat to the print. Pulling a little piece of chalk from his pocket he marked on his arm the length of the print. Larger than his own feet but still smaller than Eren’s. It would have to do until he could get Hange to measure from his cuff to the mark. They took off across the yard, under a rail arch and onto the street.

Eren paused, spinning on the spot like a man who has lost a cuff link and can’t find it.

“I lost it,” he said, turning around again.

Levi could hear an alarm being raised from the area they’d just left. He should turn back. By this time Erwin would have secured the scene and hopefully sent uniformed men after Eren and Levi. Hopefully.

“We should head back, kid,” Levi said, but Eren was gone from his side. “Kid?”

Someone shouted behind them and Levi found himself strangely antsy.

_If something were to set off a group of people like that…who knows what they might do._

“Kid?” Levi called again, his voice sounding strained even to his own ears. Levi didn’t often feel nervous. His unflappable demeanor stemmed from his ability to control any situation he found himself in, but he wasn’t in control here. The killer was in control, this mob was in control, and none of them were Levi’s friends.

“Lieutenant!” Eren shouted down at him and he turned around and found Eren on top of a building a few meters away. “I found it!” His face was wild and excited and Levi felt his rabbit heart calm and still.

Eren was in control. Levi had to put his trust and faith in him.

“There’s ladder up the side here,” Eren pointed. “Careful, there’s blood on the third rung.”

Levi skipped that rung, making a mental note of the blood. It was a small droplet, not visible from the ground and smaller than a penny.

“How’d you even see it?” Levi asked, looking up at Eren.

“I was looking for it,” Eren said, as if that were obvious.

He looked down at Levi, his tongue stuck between his teeth in that goofy smile he had. He reached down and pulled Levi up onto the roof.

“When we were in New Delhi, Mikasa, Armin and I used to climb out our window and take a shortcut through the city. The rooftops were our playground. You know, before mum died and I was sent to school.”

This was one of the few times Eren had called his wife by her true name. Eren was usually so careful, but slipped when excited. He wondered the reason for the change. Then he thought how touchy Eren was about his wife’s parentage and figured it was to sound more Anglicized. Levi never would have accepted a name change, not that he’d ever been offered the option. His name was all he had of his mother.

“What a magical childhood,” Levi said, trying to hide his sarcasm. He’d spent a great deal of time on rooftops too, running from Kaney and his brass belt buckle.

A murderer is a shapeless entity, or at least that’s how Levi always saw it. A homunculus of rage and deceit. As they put bits and pieces of the killer together, stitching them up like a seamstress, a portrait would emerge. But this killer had no shape and Levi saw him in the flickering flame of every gaslight and blinking out from the depths of every shadow. Levi could almost hear his footprints. Eren was hunting a ghost, pausing to look at every turned stone with those wide green eyes. Levi followed him closely. This was Levi’s town, he should be leading Eren! But Eren was used to a different kind of jungle, the same sort of terrain their killer dwelt in.

They climbed over a few adjoining buildings. There was only the one way up the building and at the end of the block they found a lower roof that they could jump onto and then onto a few stacked boxes of stock.

Eren landed with a loud _clunk_ and then held his hands up to catch Levi like he were a small child or woman but Levi landed next to him as graceful as a tomcat, not a scuff on his perfectly shined shoes. He rolled his neck to look up at Eren with a less than amused expression.

“Careful,” Eren cautioned. “I don’t want you breaking a hip, old man.”

Levi ignored him. “Where to next?”

“I have no idea.” Eren looked around. “The park?” He pointed toward Mitre Park.

“Why the park?” Levi asked, turning his head to Eren. Were he a killer, he’d head home, wash the blood off his hands and then clean or burn all his clothes.

Eren looked sheepish. “It’s just…a leopard or some other predator wouldn’t linger in the light like this. They’d go somewhere dark.”

Levi didn’t bother to point out that this wasn’t a beast. He knew Eren’s skill set when he pulled him out of the cell and so far Eren had given him a boot print. A boot print and the killer’s escape path were better than anything he’d come up with so far.

“Especially if they hadn’t satisfied their bloodlust.”

Levi turned to look slowly at Eren, his eyebrows contracted and a sudden realization burning a hole in his gut.

“What do you—“

Levi’s question was cut off by a familiar sound. A police whistle. They ran.

Never would it have occurred to Levi that their killer wasn’t done for the evening until he pulled up short, next to a young officer who was busy emptying his guts over the fence of the park.

“Detective Inspector Pascal,” Levi informed the officer.

The body was worse than Annie Chapman. The woman in front of them had her intestines flung over her right shoulder, her skirt pulled up above her waist. There was blood still pumping out of her. Her face had been mutilated, the eyelids slashed deep into the soft tissue cradled by the ocular cavity.

“I just found her, sir,” the uniform gasped. “Just now.”

“I want you to start controlling the crowd away from this area, do you hear me?” Levi snapped his fingers at the uniform, going into containment mode. “Eren—“

“She’s warm, Lieutenant, we just missed him. Shit!” He put a hand in his mussed hair.

“We don’t know that, she’s like the other one, she could have been here for an hour—Eren wait!”

Eren took off.

“Damnit!” Levi cursed. “Do not let anyone near this body, do you hear me? You wait for Erwin Smith and you tell him—you tell him to wait for me!” He pointed his gloved hand at the uniform and then sped off after Eren.

Shitty brat, where did you get to?

He rounded the corner and caught sight the tail of Eren’s coat whipping around another turn.

“Eren wait!”

A cab pulled in front of him, the horses whinnying and Levi sprinted around it.

“Levi!” Erwin called from inside the cab.

Levi didn’t have time to heed him. He rounded the corner and skidded to a halt next to Eren. Eren’s eyes were on the pile of bloodied rags on the ground but Levi’s were trained above them.

“He was here! He was here!” Eren shouted excitedly pointing at the rags.

From the corner of his eye Eren caught sight of a shadowed silhouette and he sprinted off again but Levi stayed rooted to the spot.

_I see him!_ Eren thought as he tried to listen for footsteps over the blood pounding in his ear. Then he collided hard with what felt like a sack of potatoes and went down. He flung the person he’d run into off of himself and then scanned the streets. Nothing.

“I had him!” Eren shouted. “I had him!” he screamed at the sky. _It wasn’t fair! He had him._ He kicked the wall angrily, bruising his toe. The pain served to quiet his anger and he helped up the shaking form on the ground.

“I saw him,” Sasha said, her entire body quivering. “I saw him. I saw him.”

“Tell me,” Eren asked, grabbing her by the shoulders.

Levi heard Erwin’s footsteps come up behind him.

“You know,” Levi said after a moment, licking his dry lips. “I try not to let things get personal. But this feels really personal.”

Eren came back to where Levi and Erwin stood, pulling Sasha behind him like a rag doll, her eyes wet. He followed their eyes upward to the writing on the wall.

_“THE JUWES ARE NOT THE MEN WHO WILL BE BLAMED FOR NOTHING.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The graffiti at the end actually happened and is known as the "Goulston Street graffito." Someone really did shout "Lipski" at a possible murder suspect. I describe the bodies as they were written down at the time.
> 
> But...lots of other stuff was fudged to make my story more interesting. For example, there's wasn't a committee meeting that night (at least as far as I know) and obviously everyone's favorite wall worshiper Pastor Nick wasn't the head of the very real Whitechapel Vigilance Committee, that job belonged to the very famous George Lusk. I've supplanted Lusk's role in Ripper lore with Pastor Nick. The women were found dead under an hour apart, yes, but not quite as fast as I made it seem. Ah well, artistic license~~~
> 
> Who is the killer???


	8. Yes Virginia, there is a Jack the Ripper

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Covetous,” he said quietly.  
> “What?” asked Levi, looking up at Eren’s tense back.  
> “You said people kill because they covet. This. This is what he covets.” He lowered so he was eye level with the table. “What if he…he sees this organ as—as some kind of symbol of femaleness, of—“ Eren struggled with the words. “Of fertility. Maybe he has some kind of defect that makes him think he is incomplete?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mary Ann Nichols, Annie Chapman, Elizabeth Stride, Catherine Eddowes, and Mary Kelly. These are the "canonical five" of the Jack the Ripper killings. There has been a lot of speculation over the years about Jack the Ripper (the most recent being DNA evidence proving Aaron Kosminski as the killer, which some claim is inconclusive). Jack the Ripper lore is steeped in anti-semitism and full of royal conspiracies. The shadowed figure of Jack the Ripper is often talked about, revered even, while his victims are waved off as prostitutes. I want you to remember those five names above. I want it to burn into your brain. You can have your theories on who killed them: a doctor, a butcher, a raving lunatic, etc, but let's be real here, the real perpetrator is misogyny, plain and simple.
> 
> My tumblr is [perksofbeingawaifu.tumblr.com](http://perksofbeingawaifu.tumblr.com/)
> 
> Tracking tag is #fic: boh
> 
> If you like, please leave kudos and/or comments! Your comments always pump me up and keep me motivated!
> 
> \--
> 
> Whoops, I meant to post this before Christmas. Anywho, here you go!

_I will not cease from Mental Fight,_   
_Nor shall my Sword sleep in my hand:_   
_Till we have built Jerusalem,_   
_In England’s green & pleasant Land._

_-Jerusalem [“And did those feet in ancient time”],_ William Blake.

Captain Smith had them take down the writing on the wall lest it spark a riot. The crowd was already thick and anxious. More than once, Mike had to strike a spectator for trying to sneak a peek or, in one case, steal something off the victim. People wanted souvenirs to commemorate the occasion like it was the fucking Queen’s coronation.

Erwin, the master tactician, sent out three separate ambulance carts to thin out the crowd. The press that followed these cabs were disappointed when the body in the back pulled off the sheet to reveal a very much alive uniformed decoy. Levi and Eren rode in the back of the carriage with the real body to Moblit’s funeral home. Levi was quiet, pensive, contemplating the corpse with his fingers steepled as the gaslight lamps dotting Dr. Hange’s street passed by, wave after wave of light cascading over the man’s tired features.

This time Hange was quiet while doing her work, subdued even. The presence of two bodies in the morgue created a pall of silence in the air. Eren joined Levi leaning against the wall. He was still sulking over how close he’d been to catching their killer. The description provided by Sasha was useful should they find a suspect, but it was too vague to help them find their killer.

“H-he had a light mustache a-and he was wearing a navy blue coat, the kind with the toggle buttons that seamen wear and a red scarf and a dark hat pulled low over his face.”

That was it. That was all they had to go on.

Sasha hadn’t even seen their killer standing over the body or anywhere near the deceased. She’d just seen someone leave the alleyway where the graffiti had been found, which could have been there for months! The man she’d seen might have just been another pedestrian leaving the commotion of the murder scene in the park. Or she was making it up to get more free food out of them. Eyewitnesses were so unreliable.

“I had him,” Eren said in a low growl for the millionth time that night.

“Those bodies could have been there for ten minutes or more,” Levi pointed out. “He could have been long gone by the time we got there. We were chasing shadows, kid.”

For all they knew the killer could have killed Elizabeth Stride then Catherine Eddowes and run back in time to watch Pastor Nick’s speech. That hit Levi like a punch in the gut. The fact that the killer had chosen the night of the rally was only proof that he was growing bolder. Two in one night and when there were so many police and Vigilance members about! He was mocking them. Levi looked over at his companion and at that defiant jaw.

“Well,” said Hange pulling off her gloves. “Catherine Eddowes is missing part of her uterus like Annie Chapman but she’s also missing her entire left kidney.”

She sat back and looked at her two miserable companions. Eren left his spot on the wall, arms crossed to look over the dead woman.

“Covetous,” he said quietly.

“What?” asked Levi, looking up at Eren’s tense back.

“You said people kill because they covet. This. This is what he covets.” He lowered so he was eye level with the table. “What if he…he sees this organ as—as some kind of symbol of femaleness, of—“ Eren struggled with the words. “Of fertility. Maybe he has some kind of defect that makes him think he is incomplete?”

“Impotent?” Levi asked cautiously, knowing he was hitting too close to home with Eren, a man who couldn’t or wouldn’t make love to his own wife.

Eren looked back at him sideways. “Yes. Or maybe he is infertile or ravaged by venereal disease?”

Dr. Hange, ever the scientist, could only point out the obvious, “Then why the kidney?”

“I don’t know,” Eren admitted. “It was only a theory.”

“Maybe he’s eating the parts he takes,” Levi said in a bored voice.

They looked at him shocked.

“I’m out of ideas for why crazy people do the crazy shit they do,” Levi said angrily, striding from the room.”

Eren watched him go, his eyes and heart heavy.

“This is my fault,” Eren explained because Dr. Hange was looking at him with a kind smile that was supposed to be reassuring. “If only I’d caught him—“

“No it’s not,” she said quickly. “Look, I’ve known Levi for a long time and good men like him and you, they put the weight of the world on their shoulders and they take it to heart when things go wrong. But you cannot—do you understand me?—you cannot take the blame for this.”

“I’m not a good man, Hange,” Eren said quietly.

“That’s what Levi says,” Dr. Hange smiled. “The first time I met Levi, he aimed a gun at my head and told me to stitch up a girl with a belly full of buckshot. And I did. He was there holding her hand the entire time. When she turned for the worse, I loaded up a needle full of opium and he administered it so she went to the angels peacefully with a smile on her face.”

She gave the sheet a tug as she pulled it over the corpse of Catherine Eddowes.

“’I’m not a good man, Zoe,’ he said. But in my experience good men never claim to be good. Good men carry the world on their shoulders and bad men sit at the top spinning it.”

Exhausted, Eren and Levi took a cab. Levi’s flat would have been closer, but Levi insisted Eren get home first. He still worried about Eren being attacked by Berik’s gang so he accompanied Eren in the cab.

“It’s going to be too late for you by the time you get home,” Eren protested. “I can just sleep on your couch.”

“No, I’m getting you home to your wife,” Levi insisted stubbornly, rubbing at his eyes tiredly. Levi was an insomniac by nature, but the weight of sleep kept pulling him down.

“At least come in for a few minutes,” Eren coaxed.

Levi agreed to that at least, but the moment he sat down and put his head on his chin, he started slipping away. By the time Eren finished his snack from the larder, he came back to the parlor to find Levi completely out. He covered him with a blanket and curled up next to him.

Levi’s dreams soured into nightmares quickly. Elizabeth Stride’s outline in the pitch black darkness. Each vertebra snapping loudly as her neck rotated around to stare at him. But then she was Mrs. Jaeger lying on the ground, those dark eyes deadened and she was speaking to him but he couldn’t understand her. He could hear the beast behind him. Its flanks sweating and heaving, the beast hunted him across rooftops. Levi lost it in the darkness, only to have a large bright red light shine on him. The piercing glare of this red beam struck him between the eyes and he rubbed at it, but it bored into him like a drill. He slapped at it but the beam continued. He didn’t know what would happen when it cracked open into his brain and he didn’t want to find out. He gave a soft cry and Eren shifted next to him and the light shut off as quickly as it had come, leaving him in the dark once more.

When he awoke, he was stretched out on the Jaeger’s sofa. He hadn’t remembered removing his coat and cravat but they sat on the chair, crisp and folded. He reached for Eren instinctively but he was gone and Levi felt a twinge of embarrassment. He looked through the parlor doorway, across the foyer, to the dining room where Eren was talking to Armin in a low voice as Mrs. Jaeger served them breakfast.

“You’re up!” Eren said pleasantly, sipping coffee.

“Detective Inspector,” Armin nodded and his eyes went up to Levi’s cowlick.

“Doctor,” Levi said, putting a hand to his head.

Mrs. Jaeger set down his favorite teacup with his favorite black tea.  

“How did you sleep?” Eren asked as Levi slipped into the bliss that was Mrs. Jaeger’s perfect tea.

“Shitty,” Levi informed him once Mrs. Jaeger had left the room. “I had bad dreams.”

“Not unexpected after what you two went through last night,” Dr. Arlert said kindly.

“What’s the story with the man—the man with the uh—“ he pointed to his eye. “He’s got a dead eye and the other guy wants to kill him because of the eye so he comes up with this plan to sneak in quietly. And each night he shines a light on the old man and his dead eye until he gets up the nerve to kill him. Then he kills him and he goes crazy and keeps hearing the badum-badum?”

“…The Tell-tale Heart?” Armin asked, squinting his eyes at Levi. Armin was quite good at this guessing game of his.

“That’s it. By the Raven bloke.”

“Poe.”

“Yes, the Poe the American. Anyway my dream was like that. Someone kept shining a light between my eyeballs. It was like Chinese water torture.”

Eren laughed with his mouth full.

“Sounds like a stressful dream,” Armin nodded understandingly.

Levi’s stomach gurgled unpleasantly and both Eren and Armin looked at him in surprise. Levi pretended he hadn’t heard it and sipped his tea, but then it happened again and he set town the cup and in his most dignified voice asked for the toilet.

“Upstairs,” said Eren, his green eyes flashing in amusement. “To the left.”

Levi straightened his shirt front before ascending the stairs.

“Watch the third step!” Eren called out at the same time Mrs. Jaeger said, “Third step!”

There was a _thunk_ as Levi tripped, despite their warning.

Maybe it was their racing around on the rooftops last night, but the stoppered up feeling Levi had been carrying around for the past few days finally gave way. Now it was coming out of him like water. After a good twenty minutes, Eren tapped on the door before bursting through.

“Wife says to take this,” he said holding out his hand.

Levi took what was offered.

“What is it?” he asked, pulling a face. “It tastes like clay and tree bark.”

“That’s because it is.”

Levi shrugged and took the home remedy anyways. Eren set about working up a lather to shave.

Levi forgot what this was like. Eren was fresh from camp, where there were little boundaries and absolutely no privacy. Levi himself had carried on several lengthy conversations with superior officers who were suffering from dysentery in the past. Men changed, bathed, shit and shaved together. Nudity was something he didn’t even bat an eye at anymore. He missed camp life.

Still that didn’t mean he didn’t like the privacy that being a civilian offered. Yet somehow, Eren’s presence didn’t bother him. Maybe it was because they were both soldiers. Hell at this point they were partners.

“The water’s still warm from my bath earlier, if you want to wash up,” Eren said knowingly, his face covered in a thick lather making him look a great deal like Father Christmas.

Levi thought that was perhaps the most brilliant idea Eren had ever come up with. He set his folded clothes aside and slipped into the lukewarm water, not even caring that Eren had used it first. Watching Eren from under his eyelashes, he traced the familiar muscles on Eren’s naked torso. Eren was holding his straight razor to his face and hissed as he became distracted by Levi’s languid gaze in the mirror and nicked himself.

“Don’t shave against the grain first, stupid,” Levi said, closing his eyes and resting his head against the edge of the clawfoot tub. “First pass is with the grain. Didn’t your father ever teach you that?”

Eren snorted.

“No. And Hannes wasn’t really big on grooming. He was very vain about his whiskers.”

He adjusted the blade, then followed Levi’s instruction.

“Don’t get the handle wet, it will rust,” Levi sighed. “Here, come here.”

He wiped his hands off on a towel as Eren knelt down near the edge of the tub. Giving the blade a few swipes across the strap, he lightly gripped Eren’s chin.

“Now don’t move,” he instructed.

As Levi worked, his grey eyes darted back and forth, his brow dipping into that well-worn crease. Levi was so delicate with the blade that Eren barely felt it touch before he wiped off the lather on the towel expertly.

Eren waited for one of these small breaks to ask, “Who taught you?”

“No talking,” Levi said, digging his nails into Eren’s chin a little. “Kaney.”

Eren didn’t understand.

“One of his favorite things to do was bring in some cunt who’d tried to rip him off or move in on his territory. They’d beat him, tie him up and then Kaney would set the poor fuck down in front of this barber chair like it was his throne. Then he’d have me shave him. It’s the build, you see. They can’t take their eyes off the blade. The anticipation drove them mad.” He paused and frowned. “It always smelled like piss in there.”

He made another whisper-soft pass.

“Then they’d give their apologies and if he was satisfied, he’d let them go. If he wasn’t, he’d cut their throats.”

Levi rested the blade against Eren’s Adam’s apple thoughtfully and Eren only smiled benignly in response before dipping his fingers into the water creating little whirlpools. Eren had such large hands. A boyish face, but a man’s hands. A child who never had anyone to teach him how to be a man. Levi surveyed his work.

“Kaney the Ripper is what they’d call him.”

Levi drew the blade up in one final stroke. Eren’s clumsy hand dipped further down into the water, brushing against Levi’s thigh.

“There, I think you’re done,” Levi informed him.

Eren grabbed Levi’s wrist holding the blade and he leaned in. Levi could smell coffee on his breath. The pressure on his thigh deepened as Eren’s nose brushed against his own.

“Eren,” Levi said warningly.

Eren brushed his thumb against Levi’s thigh, making little circles with his spade-like thumbs.

“Your wife is downstairs,” Levi reminded him, his throat constricting.

“I know,” Eren said, searching Levi’s eyes, but Levi was careful not to give anything away.

Whatever Eren had wanted from Levi he didn’t find and he pulled his hand out of the water, wiped it off on the towel, taking the blade from Levi’s hand. He also picked up Levi’s clothes stating that his wife would press them.

Levi wrapped a towel around his waist and set about shaving. He found it altogether too easy to forget the incident. He was becoming very good at it.

Crisp shirt, crisp cuffs, pressed cravat, fresh shave, hair slicked back—no one would have been able to guess that he had fumbled for Eren’s hand in the middle of the night because of his nightmarish dreams. He could hear the Jaeger’s arguing as he descended the stairs.

“I told you! It’s a stipend from the department!” Eren snapped at his wife.

“I don’t believe you, Eren!” she protested, clawing at his shirt.

“Don’t touch me!” he wrenched out of her grasp.

“Why do you hate me so?” she gasped at him and Levi halted, tapping his fingers on the banister, wondering if he should go back up.

“I don’t hate you! I love you!” he scolded her.

Eren burst through the kitchen doors and down the dining room, freezing in the archway as he caught sight of Levi.

“I might be a while,” he said, putting a hand to his hair attempting to slick it back, his eyes wild. “I have to fix a broken shutter since she refuses to let me call a handyman.”

Levi let him pass and made his way to the kitchen. Mrs. Jaeger turned her head when she heard him push through the doors, before hiding her tears and looking out the window. She poured him another cup of tea since his last one had long grown cold and then the two of them sat in silence, watching Eren grab a hammer from his shed, holding several nails in his mouth.

<*>

They had barely made it into Whitehall, when Officer Nifa came sprinting around the corner, nearly colliding with them.

“Lieutenant! They found another torso!”

“Where?” Levi asked.

“Pascal, don’t you dare!” Dawk cautioned, clearly in the process of trying to stop Nifa. “You’re still on the Whitechapel case! Leave that one to Zacharias!”

But Levi turned on his heel and he and Eren headed out to the crime scene. This torso was found by the docks and had clearly been gotten at by rats.

“Levi,” Mike said gravely. “Your man Kaney’s work?”

Levi’s face clouded over with anger and then smoothed away, back to the neutral expression he usually wore.

“Looks like,” Levi said bitingly.

Eren nudged him and Levi followed his gaze. A cab rolled up across the street, the shades drawn, but a single hand extended and tapped ash from the ivory cigarette holder. Levi rose to the summons, Eren trailing behind him at a distance.

“Madam,” Levi nodded to Ymir.

She had drawn on a small mustache with an eye pencil, her hair pulled back to the nape of her neck.

“Detective Inspector,” she nodded, her hand shaking a little.

“Christa,” Levi acknowledged the wide blue eyes next to her.

“One of my girl’s went out to meet a john last night and didn’t come back,” Ymir said. “Then this morning I found this—“

She handed him a handkerchief and he unfolded it carefully.

“I see,” he said, his nose wrinkling in disgust.

“Is that her?” Ymir pointed to the busy crime scene.

“Care to make an identification?” Levi asked.

Christa held the parasol over herself and her mistress as Ymir gripped her arm, digging her nails into Christa’s pale skin.

“Ma’am,” Mike nodded, before pulling back the sheet.

Ymir stilled as Levi placed the tattooed cut of skin in the handkerchief next to the wound on the torso’s shoulder. It fit like a wayward puzzle piece.

“That’s her,” Ymir said as Christa gave a cry and ran from the scene.

She tripped and Eren caught her and she sobbed into his chest.

“We’re going to need her name,” Mike prodded.

“We called her Mina from Carolina,” Ymir said, dark eyes scanning the scene. “But that wasn’t her real name.”

“Family?”

“No. No one to come looking for her but me.”

Ymir turned, snapped her fingers and Christa followed her, eyes downcast.

<*>

“KANEY!” Levi roared, kicking the door open to the butcher shop.

“Levi,” Kaney nodded. “I was wondering when I’d see you, shortie.”

“Oh, I bet you were,” Levi’s lip curled. “I got your message.”

“I heard. Too bad that wasn’t me.”

“It wasn’t him,” Levi laughed to Eren. “Bullshit—“

“You think I’m fucking stupid?” Kaney asked, bringing the butcher knife down so hard it stuck in the wood, turning around to face them. “I can read the signs.”

He threw a newspaper onto the counter.

“You think I can’t see what game you pigs are playing?” he growled. “You think I can’t recognize my own words in this filth?”

Levi’s eyes scanned the paper, this thin brows contracted as he mouthed the words.

“So now you’re working with Berik’s crew to run me out of town well I don’t scare so easily—Levi!”

But Levi turned on the spot and walked out. Eren gave one last look at Kaney, before scraping the mud off his boots onto the counter and following the Lieutenant.

“I will come for you Levi!” Kaney shouted after them. “No place will be safe! I’ll gut your girl! Bury your boys! LEVI!”

When Eren caught up with Levi, he had a cigarette between his lips, searching for a match. He looked at his cigarette case, then pulled the ciggy from his lips before placing it back, frowning. He didn’t say anything for a very long time and Eren didn’t ask, trailing a few footsteps behind him.

When their feet made it to Whitehall, Levi finally spoke.

“Find out where Captain Smith is, would you?” he said softly, his grey eyes dim as though their owner were far away.

Eren nodded.

Mike caught sight of him and walked over, his hair in front of his eyes again. He needed a cut and a shave, thought Levi absent-mindedly.

“Well?” Mike finally prompted.

“Do me a favor?” Levi asked. He pulled out his cigarette case and handed two ciggy’s to Mike. “Take a whiff?”

Mike sniffed the first and smiled, apparently pleased with the flavor.

“What do you smell?”

“Anise, cardamom. Good tobacco, it’s got a nice roast.”

Petra’s licorice candy mixed with the product. Mike had some nose.

“And now this,” he held out the second one.

Mike inhaled deeply before rearing back and glaring at Levi.

“Levi…” he said warningly.

“Thanks Mike,” Levi patted him on the shoulder before Mike could lecture him any further.

“Levi!” Mike called after him as Levi caught sight of Eren.

“I couldn’t find him,” Eren said shaking his head. “No one knows where he is. Is he off on a bender again?”

“I couldn’t tell you,” Levi said quietly.

Eren was used to Levi being up in his head, but the way Levi’s eyes darted back and forth on the tile belied his active mind.

“Mr. Jaeger!” Nifa caught up with them. “Your wife called and asked you to come home immediately.”

Eren thought of Kaney’s threats and he paled. His thoughts were distant the entire ride back home and he kept shouting at the cabbie to go faster. Levi was silent, but kept opening his cigarette case and flipping it back closed.

“Michelle?” Eren shouted bursting through the doors.

He froze when he caught sight of Captain Smith and Armin seated at the dining table, Michelle standing guard by the kitchen doors. Eren straightened, looking around for someone to start. Armin looked nervous, bouncing his leg and his eyes darting back and forth from each face in the room. Levi stepped around Eren and though he was silent and his face neutral, there was an angry red glint in his eye that electrified the air.

“Let’s gather in the parlor,” Mrs. Jaeger said, ushering them. “Tea? Coffee?”

“Don’t,” Levi ordered, pointing at her.

“Tea would be lovely, thank you,” Erwin thanked her.

“Don’t bother, he’s leaving. You’re leaving,” Levi spat at Erwin.

“I think it would be best to discuss this calmly and rationally,” Erwin said smoothly. “So you might know all the facts.”

“Bullshit!” Levi snapped. “Sorry, ma’am!”

“It’s fine,” Michelle whispered.

“I would like to know what’s going on,” Eren said finally. “If that’s not too much to ask.”

They all took their places in the parlor, Erwin sitting in one of the cushy chairs and Armin in the other. Mrs. Jaeger set down the tea tray, before standing by her husband’s side as he remained seated on the sofa. Though her hand remained on Eren’s shoulder her eyes followed Levi around the room as he paced behind them, his body coiled in anger, ready to strike out.

“After my—er—failure at the first crime scene,” Armin started, tapping his fingers on his knees, looking at Erwin for approval, which he seemingly gave. “I happened to voice my concern to Captain Smith how I wish I could be more useful and after the—uh—“ he pulled at his fringe, “That woman’s torso was discovered and with the news that Kaney was back in town, we uh—“

“I told you I would take care of Kaney, didn’t I, Levi?” Erwin asked him.

Levi didn’t pause his pacing, shooting Erwin a dark look.

“We went through all of the case files relating to Kaney and pulled witness statements,” Armin continued. “Piecing together these statements with, uh, details about the Whitechapel murders we—“

“They wrote this filth—“ Levi spat throwing the newspaper into Eren’s lap.

“ _Dear Boss_ ,” Eren read recognizing it as the letter Nanaba had received after his death. “We’ve seen this.”

“I didn’t make the connection until Kaney handed me the newspaper. These phrases, ‘ _they won’t fix me just yet,’ ‘I gave her no time to squeal,’ ‘clip the ladys ear off,’ ‘my knife’s so nice and sharp’_ —these are all things witnesses heard Kaney say back when we investigated him for that bookie’s family’s murder.”

“I don’t understand.”

“They’re even using his street name The Ripper!” Levi tapped the newspaper so hard it tore.

“Yes, well we thought Kaney the Ripper was too obvious so we changed it to Jack, which is more common—“

“You’re framing Kaney for the Whitechapel killings,” Eren said, finally arriving there. He looked around at Levi for confirmation but Levi was staring intently at a photo on the mantle of Hannes and Eren standing before a kill. “I don’t understand, why?”

“The man killing prostitutes is a feral creature, a madman, who will eventually be caught in the act or kill himself or be put in an insane asylum. He will be caught, it is only a matter of time. His nature is weak, he can’t hide for long. But a man like Kaney? He’s cold, he’s calculating, he is a disease on this city. I would rather have a hundred madmen than one like Kaney,” Erwin said, his blue eyes clearer than Eren had ever seen them. “Surely you can understand that we must do what we can to bury him? With all of the pressure on him, Kaney will be forced to flee. And if he doesn’t, then we’ll bring him in.”

“And in the meantime the real killer gets away,” Eren said angrily.

“Not if you two do your job,” Erwin said smoothly. “I have the utmost confidence in you.”

“You two don’t get it do you,” said Levi quietly to Erwin and Armin. “Too busy trying to carve out your own Jerusalem, too busy praising yourselves as the architects of a new world to see clearly.”

There are things that are known. Never give a knife as a gift, it will sever the friendship. Never leave a book open, always close it. Never let yourself be sewn into a garment, lest you find yourself sewn into a shroud; and if you must be, chew on a piece of string. Spit. Keep salt in the corners of your home.

“Don’t you see,” Levi leaned over the parlor table, his grey eyes alight. “You gave it a _name_.”

They all looked down at the newspaper with its headline, _Jack the Ripper Strikes Again! Two in One Night!_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know that ANOTHER torso seems ridiculous but there were two found around the same time as the Ripper killings. Both unsolved.


	9. Jets vs. Sharks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Levi and Eren, furious with the Armin and Erwin's revelation about the origin of the Ripper letters, engage in a night of debauchery with the boys of The Greeks. Their night is interrupted when Berik's crew makes another attempt on their lives. Time for a rumble in the alley.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My tumblr is perksofbeingawaifu.tumblr.com
> 
> Tracking tag is #fic: boh
> 
> If you like, please leave kudos and/or comments!
> 
> \--  
> "Devil's Dance Floor"//Flogging Molly
> 
> TW: Violence
> 
> You guys got me all psyched up on tumblr about this fic, so I thought I'd release this chapter. It's kindof boring in that the plot doesn't really move forward. Hopefully, the next chapter will get the ball rolling on the plot...as soon as I write it. D'oh.

Levi stormed from the parlor, through the dining room and kitchen and they heard the door slam as he stepped out the back.

“Don’t look at me,” Eren said stiffly. “I agree with him.”

He made to get up, but his wife tapped his shoulder and left to see to the Lieutenant.

Michelle found him pacing outside. He kept obsessively opening and closing his cigarette case. She stood in the back doorway that led to the kitchen, hands clasped in front her dress, waiting. The Jaeger’s home was by a commercial train rail and so they had a surprisingly large backyard (shared, of course, with Dr. Arlert). The grass gave way to bare rocky dirt. Looking out to the horizon, Levi could see train cars, laden with ore. He wondered how far he could run through the Jaeger’s property and into the train yard before he hit another building. Life felt so cloistered. He felt he was suffocating.

Tugging at the cravat on his neck, he vaguely wondered if he should give up life in London. Move out to the countryside. Maybe he could take all of his illegal earnings from the ciggy ring and hop aboard a ship. Go anywhere. See the world.

But no. He was a city rat. The country was for decent folk. Not men like Levi.

“I’m tired,” Levi told Michelle, not facing her. “Of being lied to.”

“I can see how frustrating that must be,” she offered.

He felt her hand on his shoulder like a searing hot fire poker. Seizing her wrist, he pulled her close to him.

“And you?” he asked in a low hiss. “Aren’t you tired of lying?”

“I’m not sure what you mean,” she demurred, her wrist falling limp in his grasp.

“I know about Kirstein,” he growled, the scent of her perfume overwhelming him. “And I wonder what other secrets you hide.”

“Ah,” she murmured, turning her head to the side. “Jean was an unfortunate mistake.”

“And what’s in the kitchen? What are you hiding in there?” Levi asked.

She looked away.

Levi grabbed her arm and dragged her into the kitchen.

“Where should I look, hm?” he asked pulling open the hutch doors.

He felt wild. Untethered.

_She’s the kind of woman who will ruin a man._

“What are you hiding? Letters from your lovers? Photos? Money?”

He ran his hands over the wooden counter, feeling for a hidden panel. No, she had been by the stove. Levi watched her eyes as he moved toward it.

“Is it over here?” he deduced.

Her chin wobbled but then held firm, eyes darting about frantically.

“Maybe I should call Eren in and we can look for it together?” he threatened.

“No!” she gave a small cry at the thought, clapping her hand over her mouth, as he moved to the space between the stove and the dining hutch.

He looked over the yellow wallpaper and realized it didn’t line up properly, as if it had been broken at some point. Tracing his fingers over it, he found a small groove, hooked his index finger inside and popped it open. There, under the stairs of Dr. Arlert’s flat and next to the Jaeger’s kitchen was a small crawl space. It would have made the perfect spot for a child to play hide and seek, but an adult would have a hard time fitting unless they tucked their knees to their chin. Inside, he discovered where Mrs. Jaeger hid the silverware and the small music box. There was a man’s heavy coat and scarf, folded and stuffed with mothballs and a pink silk kimono. Levi thumbed over them curiously. But the main feature sat on a small shelf: a silver-framed photo of a plain faced pastor and his beautiful Japanese bride. A small stick of incense sat in a jar on the floor in front of it.

“Your parents?” he guessed.

“Yes,” she nodded. “My father was a missionary who married one of his congregants. They died of typhoid when I was young.”

Levi understood. He closed the hidden space with a snap and straightened. He felt slightly embarrassed. What more had he expected she was hiding?

“You shouldn’t hide it,” he said tugging his shirt front down.

“People don’t like being reminded of my parentage,” she said, eyes downcast.

He gripped her chin lightly and tilted her head up.

“Don’t hide it.”

She nodded.

They broke apart quickly as Eren’s heavy footsteps sounded and he pushed through the kitchen doors.

“I can’t talk to them anymore,” he said, his face stormy. “Let’s go.”

“Where?” Levi asked as Michelle pretended to clean up the kitchen.

“Anywhere. Let’s re-canvas the double event sites. See if there’s a connection between the two women. I just—“ he ran his tongue over his teeth “I need to keep busy because if I don’t I’m going to hit one of them.”

He pointed in the direction of the parlor.

“You’ll do no such thing,” Mrs. Jaeger warned.

“That’s why I’m leaving,” Eren said, grabbing his coat.

“Will you be back for dinner?”

Eren looked at Levi for confirmation.

“Probably not,” Eren shrugged.

She held his hat in her hands, but he never took it and when Levi closed the front door behind him he caught sight of her black eyes blazing with anger and frustration, bitter tears at the corners. The door shut and she crumpled the felt hat in her hands.

<*>

Another day full of useless information. Elizabeth Stride was a pro who mostly catered to a Jewish gentlemen’s club, going so far as to learn Yiddish. Levi spoke with several of her clients, none of whom looked exactly pleased.  Catherine Eddowes had been arrested earlier that evening after a PC found her fall down drunk in a doorway. She was released and the next time anyone saw her was in Mitre Square. Levi talked to anyone in lockup with her. She gave a different name, but everyone agreed that it was, in fact, the deceased.

Giving up, Levi and Eren turned their tired dogs to The Greeks.

They sat there rolling papers as Levi paced behind them. He kept picking up their rolled ciggys and comparing them to the ones in his case, eyes narrowed. After checking each one of their piles, he appeared satisfied and put away his case.

“Done!” said Petra.

“I’ll go get more,” Eren said, moving to grab more tobacco.

“No need,” Petra said grinning. “That’s it. The rest is being sold wholesale. We’re done. Done, done.”

“What?” asked Eren. “That’s it? What do we do now?”

“Sell them and wait for the next batch to fall off the boat,” Oluo grinned.

“Everyone close their eyes,” Levi said, racing into the storage room.

Petra covered hers, giggling like a schoolgirl.

They heard a loud “POP!” and all jumped. Erd’s hand went to his throwing knives, but it was just Levi holding a large bottle of champagne.

“One for each,” he said setting one bottle down in front of each of them. “And I got presents. Perfume and chocolates for Miss Ral.”

Petra gave a small squeal and immediately applied far too much of the flowery French scent. Oluo waved his hand in front of his face to allow it to clear.

“Boots for Mr. Schulz,” Levi said setting them down.

“This is good leather, Boss,” Gunter said appreciatively.

“Erd, give me a pence,” Levi held out his hand.

“A…pence?” Erd asked, digging around in his pockets.

“Hurry,” Levi said impatiently and Erd placed the penny in his hand. “There you go. New throwing knives.”

Erd tested one out, whipping it at the dart board, where it held fast, gleaming in the dim light.

“Thanks boss.”

“For my boy,” Levi said, coming behind Eren and tapping his smoothly shorn face. “The one gentleman among us—“

They all whooped and cheered at this and Eren felt his face go red.

“A gentleman deserves a gentleman’s hat,” he said and placed a fancy top hat on Eren’s head, where it sat like a crooked crown. “And for your wife for putting up with me: a new tea set.”

He put the padded box down carefully.

“What about me Boss?” Oluo asked, arms crossed.

“Well Oluo, m’boy, I must confessed I was a bit flummoxed. I thought about getting you a new horse—“

“Ness ain’t that old, Boss!” Oluo said crossly.

“And I thought about getting you a new cab, but reasoned you might take that as an insult to how diligently you care to yours.”

“Damn right!” Oluo said, turning his prematurely lined face to the side.

“And then I remembered where I first found you. Do you remember?”

“Er…not really, Boss.”

Levi set a very large box in Oluo’s lap. He opened it cautiously.

“Boss,” he said with reverence. And then he started crying. It wasn’t very pretty. Like watching a bulldog try to beg for treats. “Boss!”

He clutched at the box sobbing grossly.

“Well, what is it?” Petra asked impatiently.

He pulled out an accordion and they all groaned. He played a few hesitant notes before gaining his confidence. Levi went in the back again and they heard the first few crying notes of a fiddle.

“M’lady?” Eren offered his arm to Petra, taking off his hat to bow.

“M’lord,” she curtseyed.

They danced to the music before it became painfully apparent that Eren didn’t know how to dance.

“I thought you went to a fancy academy they save for Dukes and Earls,” Petra said.

“I did!” Eren laughed. “But it was all men, there were no ladies for us to dance with. Also, I got thrown out.”

“Well I don’t know any fancy waltzes but I can show you how we dance down here.”

After that everything became a blur to Eren. At some point in the night he gave Petra his tophat to wear. Erd and Gunter started singing a loud sailor song. Levi set down his fiddle and showed them all a jig he’d picked up while in the service. Cigarette in his mouth, cheeks pink from champagne, sleeves rolled up to show off those pale forearms, he hopped up on the bar to show them his fancy footwork. Eren joined him and there was a great deal of ankle knocking and whooping and Levi pretended to fall off the edge of the bar and Eren laughed so hard he actually did fall off the bar. Petra’s bosom was flushed and at some point Oluo hung up his accordion and had his hand all the way down the front of her dress. Levi pulled her out of Oluo’s arms and the last memory Eren had was them doing a dance with linked arms, their legs crossing and uncrossing.

They were all drunk and laughing and everything was warm and good. Eren didn’t even remember grabbing Levi by his pointed ears and kissing him on the mouth, shouting that he loved him. But apparently everyone else did and thought it was the funniest joke of all time.

“I have to piss,” Levi grunted the box with the teapot under his arm, dragging Eren behind him.

Eren didn’t remember pissing in the alley outside The Greeks. He didn’t remember licking the side of Levi’s face—although Levi did and found it especially _crasseux,_ but was too drunk to properly reprimand him. He didn’t remember how they decided to trip around the neighborhood to walk it off. He didn’t remember seeing the gun muzzle or shoving Levi out of the way. In fact, the first thing he _did_ remember was Levi screaming his name as the tall man barreled down on him with his two hatchets—no _tomahawks_ , he corrected in his drunk mind.

Eren rolled to the side and the tomahawks hit the stones, sending sparks into the freezing night air. And that’s the first moment he realized it might not be a drunken hallucination.

“Wake up, kid!” Levi shouted wrestling with the gun in the other man’s hand.

Eren reached behind him and pulled out the bowie knife he’d kept hidden in his waistband. After one near death experience and a chase on the rooftops Eren didn’t feel like taking chances. He made an expert swipe with the blade, using his elbow to drive it upwards. One of the tomahawks hooked around the wrist holding the knife like a shepherd’s crook before he butted Eren in the head with the flat edge. As Eren staggered back, the man raised the weapon in his other hand and it surely would have embedded it in Eren’s skull if Levi hadn’t managed to get a shot off near both of their heads. Eren was on his feet, knife in hand. Both guns were out of sight. Just four men in the alley having a rumble.

Eren retreated a step and found himself back to back with Levi.

“I’ll take the tall guy you take the big guy?” Eren asked, figuring Levi’s height would be a disadvantage.

“Come on, you fucker,” Levi hissed in agreement, snapping open Eren’s straight razor.

But the tall man, Bert, sent several expert swipes his way with careful precision and Eren soon regretted his choice. Levi aimed a well-placed kick at Reiner’s knee only to go pale when he realized the man was built like an oak trunk. Levi hit hard at pressure points, but the larger man barely felt it.

“Switch?” Eren shouted as Bert came at him again with the double tomahawks.

He and Levi rotated like dancer partners. Levi’s razor nicked a tendon on Bert’s wrist and he was forced to drop one of his weapons. Eren slashed out, slicing through the shirt Reiner was wearing. He gave a grin before finding his arm bent backward so far he thought it might break, Hannes’ knife clattered to the ground. Then one thick arm went over his throat and pulled up. Eren choked. Thinking fast, Eren brought the heels of his hands up, smacking Reiner on both sides of the temple. He grunted. Eren clapped his hands again, driving his palms into that soft fleshy spot. Reiner’s grip loosened enough that Eren was able to snake his foot in between his legs and kick his Achilles’ tendon. Reiner went down, still holding Eren and the two rolled down the incline like a snowball of kicking limbs.

When they reached the bottom, Reiner made it on top, and drove those meaty fists into Eren’s ribs repeatedly until Eren heard something crack. Eren rammed his knuckles into Reiner’s temple again and he shook off like an elephant bothered by flies. Dizzied and angry, Reiner rose and drove his boot into Eren’s stomach.

“Hey!” someone shouted at the top of the hill.

Eren heard a few shots fired and Reiner took cover, sending one victorious smirk over his shoulder as Eren writhed on the ground clutching his chest.

Bert felt the bullet whiz by his head and rather than deal with the coppers rushing toward him, he took off, forcing Levi to chase him. He hooked the tomahawk into his belt and using those tall legs, launched himself over a wooden fence. Levi couldn’t jump that high, but he could climb a fire escape ladder and race along parallel to the man a few feet above him. He just needed to get the high ground. Bert seemed to have guessed his plan and turned the corner sharply. Levi leapt, driving his knee into his face. Both rolled and Bert came up, wiping blood off his nose. Instead of coming at him like Levi expected, he turned to an alley with an iron gate. He made to slide the gate shut and Levi tried to fit through, knife hand first. Bert grabbed one of the iron bars and slammed all of his weight into Levi’s shoulder, pulling his wrist back. There was a sickening pop and Levi dropped the blade. Bert thumbed at his tomahawk, clearly intent on taking Levi’s arm as a prize. Levi’s eyes widened in fright. The thought of him losing an arm, living a life like Erwin, hit him like lightning.

Another shot went off and Bert instead took off. Levi shoved the gate off his shoulder and slumped to the ground, his arm limp at his side. Dawk ran up to him.

“What the hell was that?” he shouted. “Who were those guys?”

“Eren?” Levi gasped.

“I—I don’t know,” Dawk said, being fucking useless as always.

Levi staggered out, his left hand over his right shoulder.

“Eren!” he rasped, tripping over the teapot box.

“Here!” Eren called from down the hill before vomiting all over the ground.

Levi slipped over the stones as he rushed down the hill to Eren. Sannes helped Eren up, but he shook him off, instead embracing Levi.

“Will someone tell me what is going on!?” Dawk pleaded.

Levi ignored him. Let Erwin deal with that. Eren was alive and whole. That was all he needed to know.

<*>

“You two keep me in business, you know?” Dr. Hange said as they staggered in.

Normally Eren would have had Armin patch him up, but he was a little furious with his doctor friend at the moment.

“See to him first,” Levi indicated Eren. He knew his own injury was bad and he wanted to wait as long as possible before she attended to him.

“Is she a doctor?” Dawk asked, pointing at Hange in confusion.

“Friend of yours?” Hange pointed at Dawk.

“No.”

“Honey!” Hange called. “We have a customer!”

“What?” asked Dawk as Moblit came out.

“Tell me sir, have you thought about where you’ll be interred when you pass?” Moblit steered Dawk into the viewing room.

“Couple broken ribs,” Hange said as Eren hissed. “Just be careful. No more running around with this guy, eh?”

She wrapped him up on the bench downstairs and then turned to Levi.

“Your turn,” she told him.

“Not here,” he begged.

She took him to the back room, the bodies of their two victims blessedly gone. For once the room was empty and Levi found himself begrudgingly pleased at how clean it was. Her husband’s work obviously. He’d seen how Hange kept her offices. Filthy.

“Shirt off,” she told him and he winced as he undid the buttons and slid it off with his unhurt arm.

“Well this is a familiar sight,” she winked.

“That’s no way for a married woman to talk,” Levi groused.

There was a pause and then Levi decided to go for it.

“Zo’?” he started and she looked up at him, startled by the concern in his voice. “Suppose someone were to—“

He gave a little hiss of pain as he pulled his undershirt off. She went to help him undress.

“—were to accidentally try opium. What would that be like?”

He avoided her nut brown eyes as she peered at him through her glasses.

“I trust you’re not thinking of taking up a new hobby?” she asked. “Or…is this about Captain Smith?”

Levi looked at her sharply.

“Please, it’s an ill kept secret that the Captain is a pipe fiend. Also…he approached me, asking me to prescribe him morphine.”

“What did you say?” Levi asked swiftly.

“I declined.” She pursed her lips together.

“If someone like me were to take it…how would it affect them?” Levi tried again.

“Well…” she said thoughtfully. “It would relieve any aches or pains, cause euphoria and drowsiness, it would suppress coughs and is a great anti-diarrheal but the downside is that you can become constipated and then when the effects wear off, the opposite. After prolonged use you can become prone to falls. Then shakes, chills from withdrawal. It’s not good stuff to get hooked on, Levi. Please promise me you won’t try it!”

“Zo’…Zoe,” he said, pulling out his cigarette case. “I think someone switched some of my cigarettes for ones filled with—with that stuff.”

“The Chinese mix tobacco with opium and smoke it. They call it _madak_. You know the history of it is quite fascinating—“

“Zoe…”

“Sorry. Who do you suspect?”

Levi sighed and rubbed at his neck.

“It could be anyone really. I leave my coat out at headquarters, anyone could have access to it there. I left it out overnight at the Jaegers.”

“What about…” she started, then looked away, chewing at her chapped lips.

“My boys are good. I compared the cigarettes they roll to this, it’s a different style. No, they’re in the clear.”

He hoped.

“I’m worried Zoe,” he said quietly and she looked at him sharply. “Kaney is back and I have dreams where I’m being pursued by a beast at nights. It’s tall, taller than me, taller than the trees. You know I’ve only ever been in a forest once? I remember feeling suffocated and watched. Spent my whole life in cities and now the buildings look like trees and something is chasing me down the streets with claws like razors.”

“You’re talkative tonight,” she pointed out.

“I’m stalling,” he confessed.

She pulled his hurt arm out and examined it.

“Can you feel that?” she asked, pressing the tips of his fingers.

“Yes,” he winced.

She pressed around his shoulder, her fingers probing along his collarbone.

“I don’t think anything is broken,” she mused, standing close, her oily curls brushing against his cheek.

When she pulled away he was looking at her with an odd expression, but one she was familiar with.

“You look good Zo’. Motherhood suits you,”

She snorted.

“Hey, do you remember that night?” he asked and she tried to avoid the way his grey eyes looked up at her through his thick lashes.

“Which night? There have been several memorable nights under your employ.”

“When you stitched me up,” he said pointed at the small scar by his ribs.

The first night Levi had come to Zoe, he had falsely assumed Dr. Hange was a man. Her practice had been in a different building. Hange had naively assumed that she would build a client base on her own, thinking women would rather come to another woman with their health problems but instead she failed to gain a single patient. That is until Levi pointed a gun at her head and told her to fix the girl in his arms. She had calmly done as he asked, but the girl stilled died. She half expected him to shoot her for her trouble, but instead she saw him again. This time he had broken into the top window and was sitting on her examination table bleeding and looking sheepish.

“You mean when you were stabbed during a card game? And then suggested in the most genteel way that you could help me out of my bustle?”

“Ha, yea.”

He wasn’t charming. She hadn’t said yes because he wooed her with sweet words. Quite the opposite rather. And he wasn’t exactly handsome. Unique, but not conventionally attractive. It was more that he looked exactly like a man who knew what he was doing. The look he was giving her now was the exact same look he’d given her as he bit the stubborn buttons off her coat.

“Oh that. Yes, I remember,” she said, leaning forward and whispering in his ear. “You did things with your tongue that I didn’t think were possible.”

He tilted his head, pressing his nose against the soft skin behind her chin, allowing those curls of hers to fall over his eyes.

“Zo’ if I had asked you to marry me then, would you have?” he whispered.

He thought about marriage often. He hadn’t when he was young, but watching the Jaegers it was more and more on his mind. He could have married Zoe, had a few little brats. Maybe it wasn’t too late. He could find someone. Maybe not young and beautiful like Mikasa, or brilliant and energetic like Zoe, but maybe there was a youngish widow out there who’d have him. No blushing virgin, just someone who let him be. He didn’t want someone who looked at him like he was a hero, rather someone who knew his moods and tolerated them.

He slipped a hand around Zoe and rested his head on her breast, comforted in the space there. She stepped away and took his right hand in her own.

“Too bad we’ll never know,” she said kindly, patting his shoulder.

Then without warning she slammed his arm back into its socket.

“DAMNIT!” he roared and Eren and Nile looked up the stairs nervously then back to Moblit who didn’t appear concerned in the slightest.

“Now, I’m putting it in this sling and you are not to take it out until I say so,” she informed him over his curses.

“Goddamn madwoman!” he cursed rubbing his shoulder as she tied the sling around him.

“You’re welcome,” she said pleasantly, humming as she touched up the cut on his cheek.

He continued to let out a low growl.

The phone rang and they all jumped.

“Who besides you would call at this hour?”

It was Erwin.

“There’s been an incident.”

There were a lot of incidents lately.

The cab ride over to Pastor Smith’s chapel was crowded. Sannes kept running his gloved hand over the found tomahawk blade and Eren winced on every bump in the road, clutching at his ribs. Hange attempted to make small talk and when no one responded, settled for describing in great detail the way a barrel maker whose body had come to her mortuary had expired. When she finished there was silence. Then Dawk started laughing, a low, exhausted chuckle.

“What?” Levi snapped.

“You look like a chicken with your arm in that sling and holding onto that broken teapot,” he laughed, wiping tears from his eyes.

Eren and Levi made identical faces, lips curling at the silly man.

When they pulled up Armin was sitting on the steps outside the church, his head in his hands tugging at her hair.

“You were right,” he said quietly.

“We found the missing kidney,” Erwin informed them from the doorway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bert picked up his weapons when they passed through the U.S./Canada. Levi had Eren's straight razor because he was going to get the tortoise shell handle fixed as another gift.
> 
> Originally, I had two whole flashback scenes with Hange and Levi and with Erwin and Levi but I scrapped them. And fyi, Levi doesn't like Hange because they slept together, he likes her because she's good at her job.
> 
> Ugh, I can't stand writing Mikasa as "Michelle," but it's a few chapters before Levi convinces her to go by her real name.

**Author's Note:**

> If you like, please leave comments and kudos! [And now for something completely different!](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1946151/chapters/4206144)


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